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Cocoa Room is a new chocolate dessert concept by Basil AlSalem the Slider Station, Burger Boutique and Open Flame Kitchen creator. It’s his new dessert place that is opening up right next door to Slider Station. Last month I passed by Cocoa Room for the first time with some friends for a tasting session and yesterday night I passed by again with Nat and both times the food was amazing. The current tasting sessions include some new dishes that will end up on the Slider Station menu alongside the new desserts that were created specifically for Cocoa Room. Not sure where to start, maybe with the interior first. It’s small, but very cozy with a custom fitted velvet sofa running seamlessly alongside three walls. You come into Cocoa Room from a small doorway inside Slider Station and at night it’s very dimly lit with a large glass window that overlooks the Slider Station street entrance and waiting area outside. It looks very trendy and wouldn’t feel out of place if you stuck right in the middle of Soho.

Food wise I ate a lot. First time there I had 10 of the potentially new Slider Station dishes and then topped it off with 7 desserts from Cocoa Room. It was beyond filling, I felt like a python that had just devoured a sheep. Yesterday on the other hand I went back for a more moderate tasting session. Instead of eating everything I chose my favorite dishes from my first visit, I had some fried mozzarella balls on a Spanish salsa sauce, a veal and mushroom on potato crust starter, spicy lamb chops called Bangkok on Fire and finally pink spaghetti. For dessert I went with the Oreo fondant, chocolate lollipops and Nutella souffle. One thing I have to highlight here is that the lamb chops were the best lamb chops I ever had anywhere while the freshly made pink spaghetti was the best spaghetti dish I’ve ever had in Kuwait. I actually wanted to go back last night specifically to have those two dishes again. I’m really hoping they’re going to add them on the Slider Station menu very soon because they were really that good.

Now Cocoa Room on the other hand was supposed to open up soon but now the launch might be postponed since they just acquired the space next door so they might end up expanding Coco Room before it even opens. For now though you can enjoy some of the pictures I took below last night.

Last weekend Blink sent me a Logitech racing wheel to review for the blog. It was perfect timing since Nat was out of the country which meant I was home alone with Geo, my PS3 and a copy of Gran Turismo 5. The first racing wheel I ever owned was the Coleco racing wheel which I got back in the mid 80’s (and which I still have today). It came with a gas pedal and a copy of the back then amazing racing game called Turbo. Of course that was back in the mid 80’s and things have come a long way since then.

The first thing I noticed about the Logitech wheel is that it was heavy and that’s a good thing. The weight gives it a solid feel which I wasn’t expecting since the GT wheel is the younger brother of the more expensive Logitech G27 wheel. This is why I was expecting the GT wheel to feel a bit flimsy but it wasn’t at all. The racing wheel comes with a gear stick attached to the wheel and a separate gas and brake pedal with a rubber base to stop it from slipping. The force feedback is just amazing, it reminded me of the days when I used to spend all my money at the arcades playing Daytona with my friends. The force feedback is pretty powerful and I actually have to use a lot of force and fight with the wheel sometimes which again makes this steering wheel feel like it’s worth a lot more.

I tried the steering wheel on a bunch of games including MotorStorm, Formula1, Dirt2 and Gran Turismo. The steering wheel worked great in everything except Gran Turismo. I just couldn’t control my car properly and kept slamming into walls and spinning out. Not sure if it was the settings somewhere or the fact I was still not used to the steering wheel but I just couldn’t drive my car properly. I’m sure it was something from my side since this wheel is actually the official wheel of Gran Turismo which means it should work really well with it. On the other hand the wheel worked great in Formula1 and extremely well in the Baja races in Dirt2. As some points it felt like I was back in the arcade playing Sega Rally which is what I liked the best about the steering wheel. It’s an arcade wheel at home.

Another issue I faced was with the placement of the wheel. At first I tried to use the wheel on my laps (see picture above) but it didn’t work and was actually a bit painful. I then bolted it down to my coffee table but found it too low to be comfortable. Finally I ended up sitting on the floor with the wheel mounted on my coffee table and it felt like I was sitting in an F1 car which worked for me. If you have the space I would recommend you get something like [This]. Overall I liked the wheel a lot and thought it was really well built. If you can’t afford the Logitech G27 or don’t want to pay that much for a wheel then you can get this from Blink for just KD35. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Now if you’re interested in this wheel then you’re gonna like this since I’m going to give one away. If you want to win this Logitech GT racing wheel I just reviewed all you need to do is send me a picture of your PS3 setup. The person with the saddest looking setup will win the wheel. Make sure you have 248AM written somewhere in the shot (so I know you took the picture) and send your pictures to [email protected]. Send all pictures by Saturday 9PM the latest.

The past two weeks they’ve been digging up the street in front of my house in Salmiya (the old shopping street in Salem al Mubarek street). At first I thought they were actually reducing the size of the middle sidewalk to add more parking spots which pissed me off since I walk my dog there every morning. Then yesterday I spoke to one of the workers and he told me that wasn’t the plan, it turns out they’re going to be planting the middle sidewalk like how it is on the Gulf Road.

Usually this would be a good thing. Who wouldn’t want to live on a green street? I usually would be all pro for going green but not in this case. The street is currently just one big garbage bin. It’s completely ignored, no one is taking care of it. The streets are crumbling, most of the buildings are getting ready to be demolished, there is trash everywhere, not enough garbage bins and there is a street fight practically on a daily basis because of this billiard place next to my house. A month or two ago while walking my dog at 8AM I heard a lot of shouting and screaming. When I got closer I noticed two gangs throwing rocks at each other. One group of guys looked like Emo’s, they were standing across the street yelling and throwing rocks at another group of tubby guys standing on the other side of the street screaming back. There was a shop with a broken window because it got hit by a flying brick. This was at 8 in the morning!

I’ve lived in the exact same spot now for over 30 years and I’ve seen it turn from a trendy high end street to the dump it is now. If you check the archives you’ll find a number of posts (Here is one) where I’ve asked to be put in charge of the area so I could bring it back to life (Here is another). Currently I spend my mornings picking up broken bottles and pieces of glass so that my dog doesn’t end up getting cut. No one ever cleans up the garbage and everyone seems more than happen to just throw everything onto the floor. I’m lucky that the care taker of the building next to mine cleans up the alleyway between our two buildings or else it would just be a garbage dump.

So the idea that they’re planting grass in the middle of the sidewalk in what currently is a half deserted shopping street full of garbage just doesn’t make any sense. Whats going to happen is you’ll have all this greenery with white tissue papers and chips bags dangling off them like decorations. Instead of going green, can we go clean instead? Can someone please put me in charge of Salem Mubarek Street?

I found about this pet shop and decided to pass by and check it out. They haven’t officially opened yet but already the place looks really great and is by far the best pet shop in Kuwait. I absolutely hate pet shops in Kuwait because all the ones I’ve seen are very dirty with pets shoved into tiny cages and they’re just sickening to visit. Pet Zone on the other hand is one of the nicest looking pet shops I’ve ever seen and they still haven’t even finished the place yet.

The place is 2 floors, on the first floor they have pet food, lots of fish aquariums that will have fish displayed inside (they were still all empty when I was there), a pet grooming area and right in the middle two nicely done displays for guinea pigs and rabbits. Upstairs on the other hand they had pet accessories, birds and one large display that I think will end up housing a python or some other large snake. I think I also saw a room where they shower the pets but not sure.

As I said they still haven’t officially opened, it’s still just a soft launch and so they haven’t received all their animals yet and they were still finalizing their fish displays. But, you can still pass by and check out their pet food and accessories which they have a lot of. According to the employee they should have most of their animals in 2 weeks time. Pet Zone is located near The Avenues, if True Values is on your right, take the first right hand turn after it and drive straight in as if you’re heading to the 60th, Pet Zone will appear on your left hand side. Here is a map I drew which you can use [Map]

Update: The store has moved to a much bigger location [Link]

Aramex are increasing their prices once again starting January 15th. The last time they increased their prices they blamed it on the increase in oil prices I’m not sure what the reason is this time. Here are the new prices:

First Half KG
Old Price: KD3
New Price: KD3.15

Additional Half KG
Old Price: KD2.5
New Price: KD2.65

My biggest issue with this is the change, the Aramex drivers already have a hard time giving me change and now we’re getting into coins? At the very least I hope they give the drivers Knet machines. They had them for awhile so not sure why they stopped using them. Here is the PDF with the new prices [PDF Link]

Update: I was just checking my archive and noticed a couple of years back, June 2008 to be exact, they sent an email saying they were going to introduce online payment, I wonder what happened with that?

For 2011 Cinemagic will continue the journey of The Old, The Latest and The Best. Films that would never see the light in Kuwait, films that you should never miss, films that you might like and others might hate but agreed that it added flavor to your taste, films that we should all discover and cherish. I’ve watched two of the movies from this months schedule, Son of Rambow and City of God. Son of Rambow was pretty cool but City of God is like one of the best movies ever made. If you’re going to choose one movie to watch this month then watch City of God.

Thursday, January 6th at 7:30PM
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Country: Sweden
Release: 2009
Genre: Crime | Drama
Running time: 152 minutes
Language: Swedish | English Subtitle
Awards: Winner Best Actress, Best Foreign Film
Rated: R

Saturday, January 8th at 7:30PM
THE MAID
Director: Sebastien Silva
Country: Chile
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama
Running time: 95 minutes
Language: Spanish | English
Subtitle Awards: 24 awards, Best Actress, Best Film, Best Director…
Rated: PG

Thursday, January 13th at 7:30PM
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES
Director: Juan Jose Campanella
Country: Argentina
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama | Mystery
Running time: 129 minutes
Language: Spanish | English Subtitle
Awards: 34 wins, Best film, best actors, cinematography, editing, sound, costume…
Rated: R

Saturday, January 15th at 7:30PM
THE WHITE RIBBON
Director: Michael Haneke
Country: Austria | Germany
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama | Crime
Running time: 144 minutes
Language: German | English Subtitle
Awards: 24 wins, Best Director, Best Film, Best Cinematography
Rated: R

Thursday, January 20th at 7:30PM
SON OF RAMBOW
Director: Garth Jennings
Country: UK
Release: 2007
Genre: Comedy
Running time: 96 minutes
Language: English | English
Subtitle Awards: Best Script, Best Film, Best Director
Rated: PG

Saturday, January 22nd at 7:30PM
CITY OF GOD
Director: Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund
Country: Brazil
Release: 2002
Genre: Crime | Drama
Running time: 130 minutes
Language: Portugese | English Subtitle
Awards: 55 Wins, Best Film, Sound, Editing, Cinematography, Script…
Rated: R

Thursday, January 27th at 7:30PM
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD
Director: Ji-Woon Kim
Country: South Korea
Release: 2008
Genre: Crime | Comedy
Running time: 139 minutes
Language: Korean | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Cinematography, Director, Editing, Soundtrack
Rated: PG

Saturday, January 29th at 7:30PM
IL POSTINO
Director: Michael Radford
Country: Italy
Release: 1994
Genre: Drama
Running time: 108 minutes
Language: Italian | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Film, Music, Script, Director, Acting…
Rated: PG

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. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

This is definitely the coolest thing Kuwait Times have ever done. Today’s issue of their free Friday Times newspaper was wrapped with a copy of their first issue ever dating back to September 24, 1961. Their first issue was only 4 pages but there are enough gems in there to make it worth picking up. Here are the coolest things I found in the paper:

– An ad announcing a new 1962 model of an RCA TV arriving at Morad Yousuf Behbehani

– An ad from the then not yet opened Gulf Bank (pictured below)

– Kuwait Airport arrival and departure timings. The only destinations were Bahrain, Damascus, Beirut, Abadan, Doha and Cairo. No European or any other countries

– A classified ad for a car “Immediately available Austin 55 – 1969, roughly used by it’s careless owner, with one head lamp broken (by courtsey of a fellow motorist) dented all over it’s sleek frame, springs making noise only when driving on bad roads (bad roads non-existent at Kuwait), if you are still interested, send offers to K.T. Box, No. 524 Kuwait.” What I found funny is the honesty and the fact you need to send him a letter if you’re interested. The postal service must have been very reliable back then

– Kuwait Cinemas schedule, Psycho was playing at Al Andalus, Al-Hamra was closed due to repair, Al-Firdous was playing The Golden Horde, the open air cinema in Hawalli was playing Bayabit Al Ward and finally the open air cinema at Fahaheel was playing Tomb of Love.

I highly recommend you pass by a bakala or newspaper stand and pick up today’s free issue of the Friday Times. And if anyone from Kuwait Times is reading this, if you still have all your old issues, please convert them to PDF and upload them online!

Thanks Q

Back in September I posted about how Kuwait was featured in National Geographic Traveler and how I felt the article was superficial because they focused on just The Avenues. Many of you also had your views on the article and it looks like National Geographic Traveler read them because in their latest issue they’ve featured us in their Inbox section which you can read below.

That’s taken from their January/February 2011 issue. Sweet!

Thanks Dalia

[YouTube]

They get an “F” straight away for their choice in music. Their dancing and wardrobe get a “C”. McDonalds are still winning this dance contest followed by Pizza Hut who sadly have removed their video. Here’s the current ranking so far:

Kuwait Dance Competition
1- McDonalds
2- Pizza Hut
3- Center Point
4- KFC
5- Caribou Coffee

Yesterday I went ahead and turned 2:48PM into a community blog which is a blog in which anyone can create an account and publish articles. I’ve simplified the process of signing up and posting as much as I can to help make it easy for people who’ve never blogged before. The blog isn’t without some rules though and every post that gets published passes through me first before appearing on the blog. The reason for that has to do more with quality control and not censorship.

So if you’re interested in posting on 2:48PM, just go ahead and sign up. [Link]

The Dasman Diabetes Institute is putting together a collection of anonymous, but real stories from real people, here in Kuwait.

They’re searching for personal stories concerning the following categories:
-Diabetes – Asthma -Cancer – Obesity – Arthritis – Multiple Sclerosis – Heart Disease -Social Issues (Loss of a loved one or the effects of divorce on a family) -Maternity (Pregnancy, breastfeeding, postpartum depression) – Health Conditions and Illness (Any disease or condition which is not already mentioned above)

Why is it so useful to share these stories?
3 reasons…

First of all, it gives hope to those many people out there who think they are “the only one going through this”

Secondly, sharing your story can have a positive effect on someone else’s life, and bring comfort and support to many

And thirdly, it can raise awareness about an illness or a condition. This can lead to better understanding and more compassion from the wider community.

How can you share your story?

To share your story visit hope.dasmaninstitute.org
No personal details will be required.

For more information visit their Facebook page [Here]

Sawah has been open for around a year now but I only finally managed to pass by this past weekend. When I want to have Lebanese I usually have Leila but since I’m practically having Leila everyday I decided to try something new. Sawah is located in the Avenues right next to Napket and the place doesn’t look like your average Lebanese restaurant which is what always grabbed my attention.

I ordered tabbouleh and taouk and both dishes turned out pretty good with the tabbouleh being the best of the two. Actually their tabbouleh is currently in a tie with the tabbouleh at Al Mayas as my favorite in Kuwait. What I mostly liked about the place though is the look and feel. As I mentioned earlier Sawah doesn’t look like an average Lebanese restaurant, from the furniture to the cutlery, they have their own unique look.

The only negative thing I would say based on my short experience is that I thought the price of the taouk dish at KD4.250 was a bit on the expensive side for just two skewers and a bit of french fires. Other than that though the food was good, the service very friendly and the design of the place very interesting. I would definitely go back.

BBC News have a nice piece on the state of Kuwait’s theatre industry. Gone are the golden days of plays like Bye Bye London but there are a few people who are still trying to bring the theatre back. I really hope they can, like New York is known for Broadway Shows, Kuwait could be known for theatre as well. I couldn’t embed the video on my blog so you’re going to have to view it on the BBC website [Here]

Thanks Nibaq

A few weeks back Nat accidentally slammed my FJ’s door onto a little pole while opening the door and I ended up with a nasty dent. The usual fix for this would be to take the car to a body shop and have them repair the dent and then repaint the door but I decided to pass by Dent Xpress and see if they could fix it. For those of you who’ve been checking my blog for a few years you might remember Dent Xpress as one of my previous advertisers. They’re a little shop behind Sun City in Shuwaikh that specializes in paint-less dent repair.

I had finished some morning chores that day and decided to pass by Dent Xpress to get an estimate and book an appointment. Once I drove up to their front entrance their employee was standing outside and noticed the dent as I pulled up. After getting a closer look he told me the dent was pretty deep and since my car was black he couldn’t repair it 100%, I told him anything would be better than the current state. I asked him how much it would cost and he told me just KD15 and it would take 30 minutes to repair. Luckily there wasn’t anyone there before me so I told him to go ahead and start on it.

I went and sat down in their cozy little corner and watched the guy work on my dent. It’s really interesting to watch so you don’t get that bored waiting. If you’ve got an iPad with entertainment on it I would bring it along or you could be old fashioned and flip through some magazines they had available. After exactly 30 minutes my FJ’s dent was repaired. Even though the guy said he couldn’t repair it 100% it looked like it was 100% fixed. He told me if I looked closely I could see a tiny little bump. That bump which you couuld only see under a certain light and up really close was basically non existent so it’s a 99% fix even though you really can’t see the tiny bump. I left extremely satisfied which is why I’m currently writing this post. So if you’ve got a dent and need it repaired Dent Xpress would be a good place to stop by before a body shop. They can’t repair all dents and the paint also needs to be factory original but it’s still worth passing by and seeing if they can repair it. Below is a picture of my FJ door before and after the repair.

Their website address is www.dentxpress.com
Their phone numbers are 24837666 and 55787747
Their Facebook page is [Here]

A small breakfast place opened up near my house and I decided to pass by and try it out last week. The place is called Breakfast & Brunch and is located in the large outdoor parking lot adjacent to Marina Mall (facing BoConcept). Nat and I passed by during the week around 10AM and out of the five small 2-seater tables at the place, only one was occupied. We sat down at a table and got the menus which had a ton of items on it. It was huge. Other than the regular breakfast place stuff like eggs, pancakes, crepes, etc.. they also had a long list of sandwiches to choose from (I’m guessing the “brunch” aspect of the place).

I ended up ordering freshly squeezed orange juice and a 3 egg omelet with cheese and turkey while Nat ordered the Nutella Crepe. I wanted to order pancakes as well but I knew Fahad would make me suffer at the gym if I did. The food arrived a bit later and looked very good. My omelet came with sausages, brown bread and hash browns on the side which I quickly dug into after taking the picture above. Everything tasted good but then again it’s hard to go wrong with omelets and crepes.

There isn’t really anything negative to say about my experience. The only thing I can think about is the fact the place was a bit too quiet when we first sat down but the couple on the other table asked for the radio to be turned on which fixed things. I personally liked the place, it’s close to where I live, there is a lot of parking space available and because it’s still not very popular, finding a place to sit shouldn’t be a problem. For those of you who are interested to try out the place, here is one of my famous maps to help you find the location [Map] and here it is on [Google Maps]