Search: “sti”

Sydney got hit by a dust storm and it’s all over the news so I checked out the pictures and it just looks like one of the regular storms that hits Kuwait. Not a big deal but I guess they just never got one before. [Pictures]

I haven’t posted about Hüper Optik before because I have yet to pass by and get my car tinted. I should have gone at the beginning of summer but I kept putting it off due to the fact I can be really lazy (and cheap) sometimes. The reason I wanted to tint the car is because Nat doesn’t have any shaded parking where she works so the car sits baking under the sun all day long. So Marzouq recommended I get a tint from Hüper Optik because they offer the best heat protection around.

Unlike most tints in Kuwait, Hüper Optik’s are ceramic based not metallic. I learned that it has a few advantages one being that it doesn’t interfere with mobile phones, bluetooth and GPS and the other is the fact that ceramic based film offers better heat rejection. Ceramic is an insulator while metals are great conductors of heat so ceramic based film makes a lot more sense here in Kuwait.

Here are the specs they emailed me:

100% dye and metal free
Does not interfere with mobile phones, GPS, bluetooth.
High Infra Red heat rejection of up to 96%
High Ultra Violet rejection exceeding 99%
Total Heat Rejection from 32% to 73%
Visible Light Transmission from 8% to 85%
10-year product warranty coverage

So this brings us to today’s giveaway. Hüper Optik are offering a free car tint to the winner worth up to KD250 which makes it the most expensive giveaway so far. In case you are wondering, you don’t need to darken your car windows to take advantage of the heat or UV protection. You can go for a clear film and still have some protection. All you need to do to win this giveaway is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select a winner.

Check out Marzouqs review of Hüper Optik [Here]
And here is their contact information which includes their website where you can find a map to their place.
Telephone: 2471 9999
www.huperoptik-kw.com and www.huperoptik.com

Rules: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since the winner will be contacted by email. You also need to respond to my “You Won” email within 24 hours or I will have to make another draw and choose another winner. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Note: All pictures taken by Marzouq.

Update: The post was closed for commenting at around 10PM.
The winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #24, you’ve got mail!
Everyone else check back tomorrow for another giveaway.

Last week I posted about the under appreciated indoor vertical garden at 360 mall. Under appreciated because no one knew about it. Well I was checking a website (lost the link) and found an article talking about this glass artist and they had a picture of one of his works which looked similar to the blue glass sculpture at 360. So a quick google revealed the blue sculpture at 360 was actually done by the same artist in the article.

The artist is called Dale Chihuly and he was commissioned to do two pieces of work for 360 in the theme of the sun and moon. Again interesting but I only found out about it by chance. 360 need to find a way to inform people on this stuff.

Now the cool part is I found a gallery online showing the actual build process. I was always curious on how they put the sculpture together and now I know. Check out the pictures [Here]

Note: If you get an error trying to view the pictures tell me and I will try to host the pictures somewhere else.

Today we’ve got actually two giveaways in which two different people will win. This means I will draw two numbers tonight and each number will win a different giveaway. What are the giveaways? X-cite are giving away an i-SOBOT Robot worth over KD70 as the first giveaway and a SteelSeries gift hamper thats also worth around KD70 as a second giveaway.

The i-SOBOT Robot is a miniature high-tech humanoid robot that’s fully articulated, has voice command recognition and can speak a vocabulary of over 200 words and phrases. The i-SOBOT Robot can also dance and perform his own special karate moves complete with sound effects. The i-SOBOT can move forwards, backward, side-to-side or diagonally. You can find out more about it by visiting the i-SOBOT website [Here]

The second giveaway is a SteelSeries gift hamper that contains a SteelSeries Warcraft Gaming Mouse, a SteelSeries limited edition Warcraft Gaming Mouse Pad and a SteelSeries 5Hv2 USB Gaming Headset. Steelseries from Denmark are a gaming peripherals giant and the number one e-sports company in the world. They sponsor some of the most important gaming events and will be setting up one before the end of the year with X-cite here in Kuwait. To stay up to date on X-cite’s gaming activities join their Facebook group [Here]

All you need to do to win the giveaways above is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select two winners.

Rules: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since the winner will be contacted by email. You also need to respond to my “You Won” email within 24 hours or I will have to make another draw and choose another winner. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Update: The post was closed for commenting at around 10PM.
The winners are…

[YouTube]

Comment #46 and #110, you’ve got mail!
Everyone else check back tomorrow for another giveaway, we’ve got a few days left.

Note: Yesterdays random number was also 46! Not as weird as the Bulgarian lottery but still…

It took me around 16 hours to build which is the longest its ever taken me to build a radio controlled car but it was a lot of fun and I’m finally done. I had actually completed the build last night but today I passed by the Tamiya dealer to pick up a better quality damper system which is the blue and silver object in the pictures. I still need to change the motor, add an electronic speed controller and most importantly paint the actual FJ Cruiser body to put on it but I wanted to share these pictures I took of the car frame to show you how beautiful the details in the model are. Check out the pictures below.

Here is a link to the FJ Cruiser page on the Tamiya website. [Link]

I’ve always wanted Craigslist to open a Kuwait section and it looks like they just did. Check kuwait.craigslist.org, they’ve even kept the erotic section which should be interesting!

Slider Station is one of my favorite burger places in Kuwait. They’ve got a huge variety of sliders, burgers, starters, fries and desserts while also having one of the trendiest designed restaurant interiors in Kuwait as well as good music and some amazing staff. My favorite two things there are the onion strings with Chipotle sauce on the side and Ancho rib slider.

Their Black Widow burger was reviewed by me in “The Best Burger in Kuwait Challenge” and scored very high. A lot of people were put off by the price but now could be a good way to try it because Slider Station are offering lunch or dinner for two as today’s giveaway. You get to order and try whatever you like which is a fantastic deal so make sure you try their famous chocolate pudding when you are done. They’re located on the Gulf Road opposite Seef Palace near Pink Moon and Falafel & Company. You can visit their website by clicking this [Link]

All you need to do to win is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select a winner.

Rules: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since the winner will be contacted by email. You also need to respond to my “You Won” email within 24 hours or I will have to make another draw and choose another winner. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Picture of staff taken by Dakdoka

Update: The post was closed for commenting at around 6PM.
The winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #156, you’ve got mail!
Everyone else check back tomorrow for another giveaway.

One of my favorite skyscrapers in Kuwait just got slapped on with a tacky blue signage right on the top. Wasn’t there a nicer way to do it? I’ve noticed a lot of buildings use this blue cheap looking plastic for the building names but it really ruins the look, there must be a better or more tasteful material that can be used.

Note: Sorry about the blurry photo

Today’s giveaway is for the ladies and its courtesy of the fashion boutique Pink Moon. I’ve mentioned them a few times on my blog before and some of you might have noticed their trendy shop on the Gulf Road opposite Seef Palace near Slider Station. They also have an online store which is very popular and doesn’t only serve Kuwait but they also deliver world wide.

They are giving away one item from their best-selling ‘Free City’ collection which actually has a long waiting list. The winner will get to choose any one item from the ‘Free City’ collection which includes t-shirts, hoodies and sweatpants worn by tons of celebrities. Their newest collection arrives tomorrow and the winner will get to choose whatever 1 item they want for free.

All you need to do to win is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select a winner. To check out Pink Moon’s current ‘Free City’ collection online click [Here]

Today’s giveaway is for women only but don’t worry there’s still a lot more left. Last night I finalized all the giveaways and their are some really great stuff coming up. So enjoy!

Rules: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since the winner will be contacted by email. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Update: The post was closed for commenting at around 9PM. The winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #122, you’ve got mail!
Everyone else check back tomorrow for another giveaway.

I was reading an article in WIRED magazine about Patrick Blanc and his famous vertical wall gardens when I read the following:

Forty-five years on, the French botanist’s gardens have grown massive in scale. One inside a Portuguese shopping mall is larger than four tennis courts, and there’s one in Kuwait that’s almost as big. [Source]

So I did a bit of googling and found this article from January of this year that says:

360 MALL announced the latest addition to its unique retail offer, with the creation of the world’s largest indoor living wall. This innovative vertical garden marks a new eco-friendly element to the 360 Mall on offer…

…Patric Blanc, a botanist and the inventor of the Vertical Garden said: “This vertical garden is set to become a must-see destination for people in Kuwait and beyond. It is something people will want to see and experience for themselves. [Source]

I’ve been to 360 Mall a few times and never noticed the vertical garden so I checked for some images of the mall online and found the picture above on Ansam’s blog showing the vertical garden. I don’t think a lot of people have noticed it before, maybe they should add a plaque or something in front of it. It’s interesting.

Here is a link to Patrick Blanc’s website. [Link]

Yesterday night I passed by Abyat to check up on something and on my way out I decided to pass by this new place that had opened right in front of it called Aquamondo. It’s a cute place that has everything you need for your bathroom ranging from shower curtains and floor mats to shower heads and bathtubs. They even have a small area with a few shower heads setup where you can turn them on and see how the water flows out of them.

Abyat does have a bigger collection of shower heads and tubs but its still neat.

This giveaway thing is turning out to be pretty cool. I’ve got I think around 14 more giveaways to give since a lot of businesses want to be part of this which is great for everyone. I am also trying to get a variety of gifts, some food related, some electronic stuff, some stuff for guys and some stuff for girls etc. So far I think I’ve got a nice variety lined up. Today’s giveaway is courtesy of Saso Lounge who you guys will recognize from the banner right on top.

They’ve just opened up in a brand new location in Abu Hulaifa, right next door to Johnny Rockets and Starbucks in Alia and Ghalia towers. I haven’t been to their new branch yet but I have been to their Kuwait City branch and they’ve got a very large range of great dishes to suite everyone. Their website was also recently updated and now has a large food gallery where you can check out all their dishes (don’t check it if you’re hungry and fasting!). Saso Lounge are giving away a KD20 voucher which you could use at either of their branches. All you need to do to win this voucher is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select a winner. For more information on Saso Lounge visit their website [Here]

Rules: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since the winner will be contacted by email. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Update: The post was closed for commenting at 7PM. The winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #68, you’ve got mail!
Everyone else check back tomorrow for another giveaway.

A blog reader just emailed me saying that my blog is blocked by KEMS. Can anyone confirm that?

Update: It seems this isn’t true, my site isn’t blocked with KEMS. Must be a fluke?

Update2: The error message the blog reader is getting is

This site is blocked according to the goverment filtering policy. If you feel this page has been blocked in errors kindly fill out the form and we will investigate thank you.

Very strange, is this because I said the bollards were ugly?

Update3: My site is now no longer blocked on KEMS.

As I mentioned yesterday I am going to try and have something to give away everyday until Eid. Today’s giveaway is courtesy of Choowy Goowy. Choowy Goowy are one of my favorite desert dessert places in Kuwait. They’ve got amazing cookies, make amazing brownies and also have delicious cheesecakes.

Today we’re giving away a package to one winner consisting of 2 jars of cookies of whatever flavor you want, a box of chocolate brownies and a full cheesecake with the crust and topping of your choice. All you need to do to win this package is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select a winner. For more information about Choowy Goowy visit their website [Here]

If you’re a business owner and want to be part of this giveaways [Contact Me]

Note: You need to put your proper email in the email fiel while commenting since winner will be contacted by email. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Update: I just realized there are only 6 days till Eid left which isn’t much so the giveaways will last through Eid and not just till Eid.

Update2: Due to the high response in such a short period of time and the fact I need to leave the house, I closed the post for commenting at 7PM. The winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #38, you’ve got mail!
Everyone else check back tomorrow for another giveaway.

I left Marina Crescent after meeting up with a friend and was on my way home when I decided to pass by Brands for Less. I hadn’t been there in ages and since Nat was at the gym I could kill a bit of time there checking out what they had. I got lucky!

While browsing through all their electronics section I noticed something, the MUJI CD player! Its a beautifully designed CD player designed by the famous Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa back in 1999. It has built in speakers and just two buttons on the top, very minimalistic. I had originally seen it at a MUJI store in Munich and although I found it beautiful, at nearly $200 it was too expensive for me to justify the purchase. So here out of the blue I was at Brands for Less standing in front of an item that no one around me had a clue what it was. I looked at the price and it was just KD7.850!

So I picked up the box and headed to the cashier. Before I paid the employee asked me if I wanted to try it out to make sure it works. He plugged it in and we put a CD but nothing happened. After a few minutes we declared it dead until I remembered that the CD player design was influenced by a kitchen fan and to turn on a kitchen fan you tug on the cable underneath which I did and the player came to life. I then decided to see if I could get the price reduced to KD5 because the package was ripped but I only managed to get the price dropped down to KD6. Basically, I bought a $180 MUJI CD player for just $20! I am going to drill it into my kitchen wall and use it to listen to Radiohead while I bake.

For those of you who were interested in the “Ethernet over Power” adapters I had posted about previously. They had some more in stock and they’re still selling a box that comes with 3 adapters for KD13.700.