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I was leaving the house this morning when I got a phone call from Xcite letting me know they received the new iPhone 5 and if I was interested in picking it up to check it out. Luckily traffic wasn’t that bad and I was over at their head office 15 minutes later picking up the phone.

The new iPhone 5 looks smaller than my iPhone 4s even though it’s taller. It looks very slick and slim while the iPhone 4s which I didn’t have a problem with an hour ago now looks pretty bulky sitting next to the iPhone 5 on my desk. I have the black iPhone 5 with me which is black all over including the side trimming which is what is also helping the iPhone 5 look smaller than it actually is.

Even though I was expecting the iPhone 5 to be light based on the reviews I read online, I wasn’t expecting it to feel this much lighter than the 4s. It’s really the first thing that grabbed my attention when I picked it up and it kinda feels like the phone is hollow on the inside. The second thing that grabbed my attention was the aluminum back of the phone. To me it doesn’t look or feel like aluminum but more like a plastic. I think it’s because I was expecting the metal to have some sort of texture which is doesn’t.

I booked my nano sim card from Viva [Here] but I still haven’t received the sim card yet nor do I know when they’ll be available. So right now if you want to use the iPhone 5 you’re going to have to cut and sand your sim card down to the size of the nano.

If you want to check out the iPhone 5 yourself you can since Xcite have it on display right now at their Avenues location. They aren’t selling them just yet nor have they priced them since they’re waiting to secure a large quantity of phones first. If you have any questions or curiosities about the phone let me know since I’m going to have it with me for a few more hours.

Update: Xcite just informed me they’re now selling the iPhone 5 starting at KD299

There’s a youth rugby club in Kuwait under the name of Saracens Kuwait. They’ve been around for a few years and were previously known as the Nomads. There are different divisions of different ages ranging from under 8’s and under 19’s, for both boys and girls. They play competitively around the Middle East and this year, the under 19’s division has a chance to tour in England and South Africa. However, the under 19’s division is currently in need of more people to join in order to make an official team.

If you are interested in joining then you can come to the Hassan Abul Sports Center in Dasma on Friday from 8:30am to 10:30am. Participants do not need to know how to play rugby in order to join.

The first 3 weeks of practice are free and if the participants are interested in joining the club, then they will have to pay 50KD for the year and will receive everything they need.

Saracens has a website but it is a little outdated, you can check it out [Here]

If you have any question you can contact Aziz on [email protected]

Although not very popular in Kuwait, rugby has been played here since way back in the 1940’s. Check out some old photos [Here]

Do you constantly make your friends and family laugh?
Do you enjoy being part of a dynamic team?
Are you looking for ways to get involved in Kuwait?

If you answered with a resounding YES to any of the questions above, then…

Audition for Kuwait’s first-ever “Sketch & Improv Comedy Troupe” (in the style of Whose Line Is It Anyway, SNL, etc.)

Auditions are this coming Tuesday, September 25 at 7:00pm at the Kuwait Little Theatre in Ahmadi.

No preparation necessary. Just show up with a positive attitude and be willing to play a few theatre games. A brief workshop reviewing the major tenets of improvisation comedy will be held at the auditions. Once selections are made, the troupe members will rehearse on a weekly basis and perform throughout the year.

For questions, contact Hassan at 97329695 or by email using [This Form]

A friend of mine took me to Saravanaa Bhavan the other day and I’m now in love with the place. They serve authentic Southern Indian dishes and I think it was my first time having it since there were a lot of things I hadn’t tried before.

The restaurant is located in Fahaheel and overlooks the Kout Mall marina. It’s super clean and pretty big with lots of seating. I took a glance at the menu but since none of the dishes had a description my friend ordered everything for me. I ended up having the following:

Plain Dosa

Poratta Curry

Idli Sambhr Chutni

Curd Vada

Cheese Dosa

Poori Bhaji

Payasam

And yes I ate all of that. There was so much flavor everywhere I just couldn’t stop trying all the dishes. The only thing I actually didn’t like was the Idli Sambhr Chutni which is basically steamed rice pudding. It tasted like a wet piece of bread and was the most disappointing dish I tried. Everything else was delicious. The Curd Vada probably stuck out the most since it was very cooling dish. For dessert I had the Payasam which is a warm milk and rice dessert that’s very sweet and full of spices.

It’s a great place and very affordable. All the dishes cost under KD1 with only the Plain Dosa costing KD1.100. They also have lunch and dinner specials, we missed out on the lunch special since we got there around 3 o’clock. I’m actually going back again tonight with some friends, I highly recommend it.

Saravanaa Bhavan is located in Humoud Towers, Fahaheel. It’s the same building as Centerpoint and they’re on the 4th floor. Their phone number is 23929099 and here they are on [Google Maps]

I don’t go to Dubai much but when I do a friend of mine always nags me to pass by and try Zuma. Zuma is a trendy contemporary Japanese restaurant located near Burj Khalifa in DIFC. I had to book a table a few days before arriving to Dubai since it’s pretty difficult to find a table on the weekends.

The place looked amazing at night with a really high ceiling and great use of light. When we sat down we were given the menu but I already knew what I wanted since I already had some recommendations from friends. We went with rock shrimp and a salmon dish for our starters along with steamed Edamame. For our main course we went with two of their specialities, the black cod and spicy beef. We also ordered sweet corn and sweet potato for our side dishes and I finished up with their chocolate fondant.

Since I had heard so much about the place I had very high expectations and so wasn’t really impressed with our starters. The rock shrimp was similar to other rock shrimps I’ve had in Kuwait and the salmon appetizer was also very familiar. But, things quickly improved after that. The sweet potato arrived before our main course and it was crazy good, I hadn’t had anything like it before. The sweet potato was glazed with teriyaki sauce and topped with sesame, I’d order it again in a heart beat. Our black cod and spicy beef dishes arrived a short while later along with our sweet corn with shiso butter. The corn was cut into blocks around 5 kernels high and had sticks in them. They were very easy to eat (like popsicles) and were full of flavor, another side dish I’d highly recommend. The spicy beef dish was super tender and had a sesame, red chili and sweet soy sauce. Although it was great I’d probably try something different the next time I’m there. Now the black cod dish is the reason why I decided to even post about Zuma. The black cod is marinated in miso and wrapped in hoba leaf. When it arrives the waiter opens up the leaf for you and rubs a bit of ginger onto it. I really don’t think I have the vocabulary to beging to describe the flavor, I didn’t expect it to be that good and I loved it. This is really the dish you have to order if you ever go to Zuma. We ended dinner with their special chocolate fondant. For some reason they thought it was Nat’s birthday and it arrived with a candle and happy birthday scribbled with chocolate. Luckily no loud banging and singing was accompanied with the dessert.

I really had a great experience and if you’ve never been it’s definitely worth passing by the next time you’re in Dubai. Our bill came out KD95 but that included a KD35 bottle of wine and a 15% tip. Without the wine it’s basically KD30 a person which is pretty reasonable for the quality of food you’re getting. The two main dishes cost around KD12.5 each which I think is underpriced compared to some of the more expensive dishes I’ve had here in Kuwait. If you’re interested make sure you call and book in advance so you’re not disappointed. Their number is +971 4 425 5660 and here is the link to their [Website]

I’ve got a few blog related things I want to highlight so I figured I’d combine them all into one post.

First thing I want to talk about is Miskan. Those of you who’ve been following the blog from the very beginning will know that 248AM started because of my Miskan project. That project ended years ago and so I felt it would be a great idea to resurrect it again. This is why starting today Miskan has been relaunched as the Arabic version of 248AM. www.miskan.com

The second thing I want to highlight is 248PM. It’s not new since it’s been up for awhile now but I’ve never really was sure if it should be a separate blog or if it should be part of 248AM. Well I’ve realized it should be separate for two reasons, the first is because it’s harder and more challenging for me to fill up 248AM with posts related to Kuwait. I’m worried if I start posting non-Kuwait stuff here I might get lazy and not bother looking for Kuwait related posts as much. The second is because 248PM is kinda like my personal space where I post whatever I want and not get bashed by you guys if something is lame. It’s a place where I have a lot of fun and I like that. www.248pm.com

The third blog is for events. When I was previously posting events on 248AM it was hard to keep track of what events were coming up. Since there really isn’t that much going on in Kuwait I felt it was important to dedicate a blog just for that. There are a bunch of other great event blogs out there but mine is filled only with ones I find interesting. www.248events.com

You can access all my blogs above from the tabs underneath the blog header. With 248PM and Events you can even see the latest posts in the side bar of 248AM.

Finally I just updated the Kuwait Blogs app again a few days ago. I’m planning to do this more often since a lot of blogs aren’t posting as much or their content has changed and I no longer find them interesting. By updating the App often it stays current so check the App Store for the update or download it by searching for Kuwait Blogs in the store.

Enjoy!

The new iPhone 5 uses new “nano” sim cards that are smaller and slimmer than micro sim cards. Luckily it seems all local telecom providers will be getting nano sim cards and we won’t have to do any cutting or card slimming to get it working with our iPhone 5’s. Wataniya already posted on twitter that they will have nano sim cards and Viva just confirmed to me that they will also have nano sim cards available. I’ve contacted Zain as well but I’m still waiting for a reply from them.

Last week I went on a tag along with John Peaveler of K’S PATH. It was a spur of the moment thing, I had emailed John during the day asking him if he had anything interesting I could tag along with him on and he replied telling me they had something that night and if I was interested I could join them but I’d have to basically sleep in the desert. So I did. I had no idea what to expect or what they were doing, all I was told was to bring some food in case I needed to eat.

I headed out to a nature reserve in Abdeliah around 9 in the evening where I met up with John and his team. This nature reserve was a small protected area in the desert with some artificial lakes and plant life that were starting to flourish. It’s a KOC funded project located right next to one of their water wells and it’s a beautiful place that’s attracting birds and other wildlife like desert mice and foxes. Since the reserve is also a few kilometers from Kabd, an area known for puppy mills and dog fighting, a lot of stray dogs from there wonder into the desert and dig their way under the fence into this nature reserve. The stray dogs end up scaring away wildlife and disrupting the ecosystem which is why K’S PATH was hired to clear the area from strays.

During the day the dogs tend to hide and take cover but during the night and early mornings they’re out and about looking for food. I was actually pretty surprised to find dogs in the desert but turns out they live in the desert because it’s safe and go into the city whenever they need food. K’S PATH had around 24 cages placed all around the reserve to try and catch the dogs and our evening was spent driving around and listening for dogs that might be caught in them. Once the dogs are caught there is a very strict procedure that has to be followed, one that is incredibly humane to the dogs:

1) Only one person approaches the cage
2) The cage is covered with a tarp so that the dog feels safe
3) No flash lights are used, only a very low intensity red LED
4) No loud noises, sticks or anything else that might scare the dogs are used

Once those steps are taken the dog is evaluated. If the dog is deemed friendly it is taken back to the K’S PATH shelter where the dog goes through further tests before being placed up for adoption. If the dog is deemed aggressive then the dog is humanely euthanized on location.

One of the dogs saved that night

Last year a program similar to this was done on a larger scale in Ahmadi. The dog problem in Ahmadi had gotten so bad that dogs where chasing people on the streets. KOC really had only two options, either get the government involved who would have poisoned the dogs similar to what they did in the Free Trade Zone. Or there second option was to get K’S PATH involved who would handle the situation in a much more humane manner and even save the dogs that could be saved. In the end over 1,000 dogs were captured and there no longer is a stray dog problem in Ahmadi.

My not so comfy bed for the night

It was a pretty interesting evening and I managed to learn a lot. Best part is on the way back home the next morning I ended up capturing the surreal “Camels in the mist” shot. I’m hoping to do some more tag alongs with them so I can try and document their work which I believe needs attention. They’re a non-profit organization are always looking for volunteers and donations so if you’re interested in helping out visit their website [Here]

I was under the impression that this was already available but I guess it wasn’t. It still doesn’t work with iPhones but if you have Android 4.0 and above then you’re in luck. [Link]

Thanks Rami

Around two years ago I posted about Abdullah Al-Moussawi, an 11 year old Kuwaiti boy with incredible football skills. Someone uploaded a video of him on YouTube playing football and called the video “the new Maradona from Kuwait“. The video become popular and ended up catching the eye of a football scout in Holland who later tried to get Abduallah to move and train in Holland. Abduallah became a sensation in Holland and was given the nickname “the Pearl of Arabia”. But there was a bit of controversy and the move never happened. You could read my old post for the full story [Here]

Now that two years have passed I thought I would post a followup and let everyone know what Abdullah has been up to since then. Well first thing you’ll notice from the pictures is the fact he cut his hair and it’s now really short. He’s still living in Kuwait and hasn’t move to Holland just yet. He’s been training in Kuwait but with older kids so that its more challenging for him. Every six weeks he travels to Holland where he puts on the #10 jersey and plays for the top Dutch club SBV Excelsior. The biggest change for him will come next year since Abdullah and his family are currently finalizing things so they can move to Holland where he will be able to get the best training possible.

I don’t have any new videos to share but I did get some pictures of Abdullah playing in Holland. You can check them out below. He’s got a lot of potential to become a really great player.

Update: I just got an email with more information about the academy team Abduallah plays on:

Thanks Marcel

The Kuwait Towers have been closed for a few months due to the fact they’re being renovated. If you’re curious to see how they will turn out after the work is completed check out the video above. [YouTube]

Update: I just found out the video above is a design proposed around six years back but was never approved. There currently isn’t an approved design since they’re still getting proposals from various companies and this process requires another 6 to 9 months. There are plans to have a 3D theater and some other features you can see in the video above but again there is no design finalized as of now.

Currently the Kuwait Towers are closed and the interiors of all three towers have been ripped out since they’re upgrading the fire system, plumbing, electricity cables etc.. in preparation so that once a design is approved they can start work immediately. It’s expected to take 3 years for the project to be completed and the towers to reopen.

If you order stuff from Amazon and ship it to your Aramex Shop & Ship mailbox, you are probably aware that Amazon taxes you. Well as a customer based outside the US you aren’t supposed to pay tax and so Amazon allows you to get a tax refund. All you need to do is prove the package was shipped to a freight forwarder (Aramex in this case) and that the final destination was outside the US. Sounds complicated but it isn’t. This is all you need to do to get a tax refund.

1) Once your package arrives to Kuwait request an airway bill from Aramex
2) Then, email the airway bill (as a PDF) to [email protected] with your Amazon order number
3) That’s it. In under 24 hours Amazon will reply back confirming that they’ve received your documents and that you will get a tax refund to your original payment method within the next 2-3 business days

How cool is that? And how much do you love me right now?

After posting about the MILSIM Failaka battle thats going to take place in November, my friend called me up and told me to pass by him at their location in Shaab Park. I posted about that location last year but never checked it out until now. The place is ridiculously cool with a battle ground littered with broken cars and random objects creating a realistic war like environment. Once I got there my friend gave me a handgun and took me to a time trial course in which I think I did fairly well in for my first time.

[YouTube]

Once I was done with that I was handed an M4 Carbine rifle and attached what looked like a silencer. Turns out the silencer had a built in UV light that lit up glow in the dark airsoft pellets on the way out. What you end up with is tracer pellets which you can see in the video above.

The Shaab Park location is like a paintball field, you just pay KD7 for the gear rental and spend the whole day there playing if you want. You just pay extra for the ammo. If you missed my post on the epic Failaka battle that’s going to take place check it out [Here]

The Powerstation is a nifty little device that can charge your phone or tablet while you’re on the go. I previously posted about my battery-powered case for the iPhone (which I still continue to use) but since then with the advent of Instagram that case is no longer enough. On my last trip to Geneva even with the battery-powered case my phone was lasting until late in the afternoon which is how me and my friend found out about the Powerstation. He picked one up from the Apple Store and we were using it to charge our phones once both our battery-powered cases ran out of juice. After that trip I knew I had to have one and ended up ordering getting it from Amazon.

The Mophie Powerstation is pretty compact and can easily slip into a back pocket and is light enough to put in your wife’s purse without pissing her off. While my battery-powered case had a rechargeable capacity of 1,700 Mah, the Powerstation has 4,000 which is enough to charge my iPhone three times. Another advantage of the Powerstation is the fact it works with any phone or tablet and not just Apple specific ones. The Powerstation has a standard USB port so you just plug in whatever USB powered device you want. It can also charge the demanding iPad 3 although it won’t be able to fully charge it.

There is one downside I faced with the Powerstation which is the fact it has only one USB port which means you need to take turns charging or you need to buy a dual iphone charging cable. Another solution is to get the larger Powerstation Duo which has two USB ports as well as a larger rechargeable capacity of 6,000 Mah but it’s also more expensive and bulkier.

If you’re looking for a compact battery powered charger to take with you when you travel or for a day away from any power sources then the Mophie Powerstation is a good option. There are other similar products on Amazon that have even more power but you would have to compromise on weight and size. The price of the Mophie Powerstation is KD18 and you can get it from [Amazon]

Just a quick note. If you come here and don’t find any new posts you can always check 248PM. It’s usually easier for me to find content for that section since it’s just interesting stuff I come across online. [Link]