I’m a big fan of WaterField products. I got my first Apple iBook sleeve and bag back in 2001 from them and it still looks brand new today, the product quality is outstanding. That’s why when I got my iPad first thing I did was check out WaterField to see what they had to offer. Turns out they had a few different sleeves on offer but I decided to go with the iPad Ultimate SleeveCase which I am reviewing here. The reason I went for the ultimate case is because I could use it in two ways.
The first is like a messenger bag. I ordered the sleeve with d-rings on the side which would allow me to attach a shoulder strap and carry the ipad sleeve over my shoulder. I also got it with a small pouch that also attaches to the d-rings which I could use to carry more stuff like my phone and camera and when traveling I could put my passport and other items in the pouch. That way I travel very light, just the iPad in the sleeve and a few important items in the pouch.
Now the second way I can use this is just like a regular sleeve. I disconnect the strap and pouch from the d-rings and I end up with an iPad sleeve which I could insert into a larger bag.
The build quality as usual is incredible. The bag is made in San Fransisco and the material they use is very durable. The sleeve is padded very well and the inside is covered with screen cleaning Ultrasuede® lining so you basically clean your iPad every time you take it in and out of the case. The cost of my sleeve was $89 without shipping. Depending on your configuration it can either increase or decrease. The sleeve alone without the d-rings, pouch and shoulder strap is $55 for example. Here is a link to their website [Link]
I ended up finding a Magnolia Bakery branch that didn’t have a long line outside and so decided to try it. I have no idea what all the fuss is about since everything I tried turned out to be average. I ordered some chocolate chip cookies, a chocolate cake and some cupcakes and they turned out to be extremely sweet and very average tasting. We’ve got better dessert in Kuwait.
There are none! You would think by now they’re readily available at the Apple stores but they aren’t. I pass by daily and they’re always sold out. They have an option to reserve an iPad which I did yesterday but they estimate I can pass by and pick it up in 7 to 10 days! Hopefully that’s just a conservative estimate.
I was walking around shopping when suddenly I spotted a Five Guys restaurant. I was caught by surprise since someone had told me there was no Five Guys in New York before I got here. Without hesitation I quickly rushed in and ordered my burger.
The way it works at Five Guys is all the burgers come plain and you tell them what you want inside (all the toppings are for free). I ordered a cheese burger which comes with 2 meat patties and cheese, I added three toppings, ketchup, mustard and grilled onions plus a small coke. Since they cook everything fresh to order it takes a bit of time to prepare your food so you go sit down until they call out your number. My number was 47 and when they called my number out I picked it up and came back to my table.
The packaging is very basic. They use brown paper bags with no branding and aluminium foil to wrap the burger with. Only the cup had Five Guys written on it. I unwrapped the foil to find a messy burger that looked very unappealing. BUT, the burger tasted AMAZING so it didn’t matter if the interior of the place was uninteresting or the fact the burger looked messy and came wrapped in foil. It was just like a wow! People THIS was as pretty close to a 5 out of 5 I’ve ever been!
The Shake Shack burger was good but the Five Guys burger was incredible and there was no line! Nat was just starring at me wondering why I was getting orgasmic over a burger since I was just munching and going amazing I love this non stop. When I left the place I was like I’ve got to go back and I sooo am going to!
Update: Below are pictures I took of another Five Guys branch in New York
Before I got to New York I had read about this stand people were buying for their iPad that was very cheap. It’s not really an iPad stand, it’s a business card holder from Office Depot that someone had realized works perfectly as an iPad stand. I passed by Office Depot in Kuwait and they didn’t carry it there so I passed by Office Depot here in New York where I ended up finding a few still in stock.
They had 10 left and I took them all so I could pass to my friends. How much does it cost? just 62 cents!
I flew over to New York via Qatar Airways. I didn’t have many options since I was looking for an airline that would fly non-stop from the GCC to New York. My two best options were Qatar Airways and Emirates with the later costing a lot more. The flight from Kuwait to Qatar was around and hour and it had to be on one of the worst planes ever. There was no legroom, I have no idea how I managed to fit in my seat. The legroom was so bad I couldn’t even put my small bottle of water in the seat pocket in front of me because I my knees were hitting it. The flight was packed but luckily it was just an hour. Once we landed to Qatar we had to go through airport security. Because it was nearly boarding time for my second flight they had a fast track lane for us which was great. Once done we got to our gate only to realize we had to go through a second more intense checkpoint but that was fine since we had plenty of time to spare.
The Doha-NY plane was a lot bigger off course and newer. Its the Boeing 777-330 ER and it was equipped with a pretty cool and fast entertainment system with USB ports on the seats. They had over 200 on demand movies ranging from new stuff like Avatar and The Book of Eli to classics like Bullitt, Raging Bull and North by Northwest. They also had over 200 episodes of various TV Shows. I didn’t watch anything on their entertainment system since I had my Archos 7 with me preloaded with over a months worth of my favorite shows (I stopped watching everything once I booked my tickets and have been saving them for this trip).
The legroom was pretty good and I never felt uncomfortable. The plane took off at 8AM and I was able to quickly fall asleep since I hadn’t slept all evening. I woke up at various times during the flight but overall it was a lot more comfortable than I was expecting my trip to be.
OK be prepared for the best post yet on this blog…
I was talking to a friend of mine about Salmiya in the 80s and one thing led to another and I was telling him how strong a brand Tikka was back then. I was telling him about the “I like it spicy” guy (pictured above) and the Tikka commercials and how if you asked anyone who grew up in Kuwait back in the 80s they would remember the commercial and even sing you the jingle. It became a classic like the Pizza Italia and Hungry Bunny commercials.
Anyway I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be cool to find out who the “I like it spicy” guy was, what happened to him and how he looked like today? Well guess what… After a bit of research and digging around I found out who he was.
The actor who played the “I like it spicy” character was Galal Zaki. He wasn’t an actor, he worked in the ad agency that came up with the idea. Like Alfred Hitchcock, Galal liked to star in his own work and that’s how he ended up becoming the Tikka guy. the picture below is of Galal Zaki which I found on Google and is dated 2007. Although a lot older now you can still see some resemblance.
Even though the weather was horrible on Friday the Red Bull drift challenge still took place and judging by the video it seemed pretty packed. [YouTube]
Animal Friends is holding a fundraiser quiz night on Friday 14th May at the Movenpick Al-Bida’a. A quiz night is like a trivia night. There are about 10 teams of five and they have 6 rounds of questions, ranging from general knowledge, sports, music etc. The cost is a 10KD and this includes a buffet dinner.
When: Friday 14th May
Time: 6.30pm
How much: KD10 donation per person Includes prizes and dinner RSVP by 13th May
Teams of up to six people
Please email your team details to [email protected] or call 9737 7867
All proceeds go to help rebuild the K’S PATH animal shelter in Wafra
I was supposed to post this a few days ago but completely forgot sorry about that. Call them today if you’re interested. Here is the flyer [Link]
Kotaku (one of the most popular video game sites online) last night posted an article about the arcade scene in Kuwait. They linked to a Kuwait Arcade Database which was put together by a guy called Yousef. Burj Al Abyad is still alive and kicking, leading the pack when it comes to fighting games. They actually hold proper Street Fighter tournaments there. Personally my favorite arcade in Kuwait used to be the Showbiz arcade before they shut down since they had some great old games like Killer Instinct and Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. Anyway here is the link to the Kuwait Arcade Database [Link]
I have a question. This may sound really stupid. But, other than weight concerns. What other reasons are there for eating healthy? What I mean by that is lets say someone does not have any weight issues. What benefits does eating healthy offer them? Apart from like getting all the required nutrients perhaps.
Like if someone is not fat and dont get fat, why shouldn’t they eat sugar? Or why shouldn’t they eat lots of fat? Or white bread? Or cookies? Cakes? Big Macs? Fries? Sodas?
I mean we always look at this from a caloric and weight loss/muscle gain perspective. But, beyond that, what are the long term impact on health of eating well beyond just getting all the required nutrients?
Well Ed, I am cleared to tell you how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
“Ed: I often wondered about this phenomenon. Do tell.”
A woodchuck could chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could, but really, who gives a damn about a woodchuck?
On a serious note, I found this question too significant to include in the comments below my last post. I will be answering Ed’s questions in the order I see fit.
I decided am going to create a new category on the blog called “Activities” or “Things to do”. I was discussing with Nat the other day about the activities available in Kuwait and we were going through the comments left on the blog and she brought up the point that there are more male activities than female activities and that most of the cool activities are outdoor and so pretty useless during the hot summer days. I don’t think that’s true and this is why I want to start gathering activities and start posting them on the blog. I already have a lot of activities in mind but please if you know of an activity that you think I might not be aware of please leave a comment below or [Email Me]
A reader sent me the picture above which he took at Dubai Festival City. Looks like Wendy’s and Arby’s opened up there and hopefully we’re next.
Thanks xeonali
Update: A reader passed by and tried them out. Turns out they opened up yesterday the 9th of May but the official opening will be on the 11th. Both Wendy’s and Arby’s are the same restaurant with one combined menu which is pretty strange. Below are some pictures he took. (thanks mohammed)
I hate it when people say there isn’t much to do in Kuwait because from my experience there are a ton of cool activities here. One new activity I found out about is Milsim. This has to be one of the coolest things to do in Kuwait and its now going to be something I will do as often as I can.
Milsim is a military simulation that has a lot of strategy and some very cool realistic weapons. Unlike paintball which uses paint pellets, Milsim uses powder pellets. Also unlike the paintball here in Kuwait where you run around hiding behind inflatable balloons, Milsim uses real life locations for their games. I got invited to participate in a game today and I’m now in love with Milsim. Todays location was an abandoned prison in Doha near Entertainment City. They have different locations for different sized groups for example when there are 40 guys they like going and play at an abandoned residential compound that’s around 3 blocks large. Since we were 16 guys they decided on the prison location due to its close combat nature. Judging by the video above it seems they also have a very cool abandoned farm they use.
First thing they do is split everyone into teams, todays mission involved the Marines and Delta Force vs the Taliban’s. I was placed in the Taliban team. We were then briefed on the mission which was the following… Marine One crashed and it was carrying the President of the United States. The Marines were with the president and the game starts off at their crash site. They have 15 minutes to defend their zone and protect the president before the Delta team reinforcement arrives. After an hour into play they would receive a radio call with the location of the landing in which they then have 30 minutes to get to that point and evacuate. As Talibans, our aim was to capture their president or capture a box that contained nuclear keys, if we captured any of the two we would win. Everyone was limited to just 4 magazines and each contained 20 rounds. There are no refills and although the weapons can fire at full auto its highly discouraged because you will run out of ammo very quickly. We also all had 3 lives, if you get shot (anywhere) you have to put your hands over your head and walk to the medical zone where you have to remain for 10 minutes before you go back and join your team.
How was it? A lot of fun that’s for sure and very exhausting. My team ended up losing, not sure how since we had a ex Austrian military guy, a local special forces guy and the Milsim owner, while the opposing team were made up mostly of newbies like me. We even had flares and smoke grenades! Oh well it was still a lot of fun and its something as I said I’m going to do a lot more of.
I took some pictures which you can check out below. The first video on top is a video they created to show the kind of weapons and gameplay style. Unlike paintball their games aren’t only about shooting but its about accomplishing missions and involves strategy. The second video above is one I shot today when me and some guys were getting briefed on how to use the weapons. This is seriously one very cool activity, and they say there isn’t anything to do in Kuwait…
If you’re interested to participate in Milsim its KD10 per person. That includes the weapon, gun magazines, vests, helmet, goggles, water and pelets. I think its actually pretty cheap for what you get. They cater to groups, individuals and even for corporate outings. For contact information you can visit their website at www.milsimkuwait.com.
