Search: “sti”

I haven’t been to Johnny Rockets since they introduced the new menu so I was looking forward to see whats new. Since I never really paid attention to anything on their menu except for the burgers I couldn’t really tell what new items they added but I did spot one new burger and the Philly Cheese Steak which is what I decided to try. It wasn’t that bad (tastes much better than it looks) and its definitely a good substitute for the burger although I did find it a bit dry. The price of the Philly Cheese Steak is KD2.650.

Géant hypermarket will be opening in Kuwait at the 360 degrees mall in June 2009. Although Sultan Center purchased and took over the Géant franchise in Lebanon, Tamdeen Group will own the Géant chain in Kuwait.

Thanks YBhatti!

Just got back from watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was toooo long and verrrrrry boring. Maybe if it was an hour shorter, MAYBE it would have been interesting but it just dragged and dragged. On my way out I overheard a group of girls talk about how much they loved the movie and I guess thats how it got an 8.3 out of 10 on IMDB, its a chick flick!

On a positive note before the movie started I watched the trailer for Watchmen, now THATS going to be one helluva movie! [Link]

Was at a semi-abandoned park today and managed to capture a lot of interesting shots with my Sony W300 which you can check below. I regret not having my D90 with me…

A friend recommended I try The Butcher Shop burger for my Burger Challenge so I passed by a few nights ago to give it a shot. I’ve been to the Dubai branch before but haven’t been to the Kuwait branch one since they launched so I was looking forward to it especially since my friend told me their burger was “amazing”.

I passed by The Butcher Shop the night there was the big dust storm so they only had two tables occupied. All of Avenues was empty which I actually found pretty cool. I quickly flipped through their menu looking for the burger section and then told the waitress I would have the cheese burger medium well and a coke to go with it. It was around 8pm and I hadn’t eaten a single thing all day since I was busy with work so I was really looking forward to the burger.

The burger arrived shortly thereafter and to my disappointment it didn’t look very appetizing. The presentation was pretty dull and I actually had a hard time taking a good shot to use with this post. Looks aren’t everything of course and I was hoping the taste would make up for the presentation. It didn’t surprisingly. The bottom of the bun was very soggy while the top bun was dry. The patty although thick and tender didn’t have any flavor. It was a really boring burger even though it was the only thing I had eaten that day.

The cost of the burger is KD2.950 which is fairly decent for a place like The Butcher Shop but I wouldn’t have it again. I was thinking of giving it a 3 out of 5 but the fact that I was extremely hungry without food all day and still managed to find the burger unsatisfying and flavorless dropped it down another half point to 2.5 out of 5. If you’re at the Avenues and are looking for a good burger have Johnny Rockets or Ruby Tuesday instead.

The Butcher Shop is located at The Avenues
The cost of the Cheese Burger is KD2.950

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
The Burger Hub
The Little Oven
Wimpy

I was in Bnaider Mina Abdullah today with some friends when we decided to pass by the radio controlled planes runway. Its a small runway in Bnaider Mina Abdullah built by some hobbyist who use it to fly their radio controlled jets. You need to see and hear the planes in action because they’re just amazing. They’re extremely realistic and the flybys are incredible. [YouTube]

Update: Here is another video of a flyby [YouTube]

And here is another video of a landing. [YouTube]

Has anyone purchased the tiny Vaio P netbook yet? They’re selling on Amazon for around KD260. Its more expensive than the regular netbooks costing around twice as much but it’s also less than half the size.

I got an email the other day from Alghanim Electronics asking me if there was anything they had I would be interested in trying out and reviewing. I thought about it for a bit and decided to ask for the Beats by Dr.Dre headphones. I’ve been thinking about getting them but really wanted to try them out first before spending the big bucks. I already have a lot of head/ear phones: Bang & Olufsen A8, Shure E2, Sennheiser PX100, AKG K81 DJ and the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro. So I really needed a good reason to get another and I think I just found it.

THE BASS!

Damn, I was just listening to random stuff from my itunes list, Nine Inch Nails, Paul Oakenfold, Warren G, Pet Shop Boys, Chemical Brothers.. just anything I clicked on and everything was sounding really great. Then I put Touch It by Busta Rhymes and my jaw hit the floor. I am still in shock on how something so small (ok they aren’t really small but they are smaller than my full sized speakers) could put out this much bass. It just sounded incredible, makes me want to keep listening to music all day.

The headphones cost KD99 at Alghanim Electronics which surprisingly makes it cheaper than Amazon. On Amazon.com they cost KD95 (with tax) plus factor in KD5.5 for shipping and you end up paying at least KD100. Will post more about these headphones once I get to properly test them out.

Update: Amazon is currently offering a $50 discount on the Beats by Dre. Click here to check it out. [Amazon Link]

Al Sadu Society cordially invites you to an exhibition of Kuwaiti fashion:

ZAY
Traditions & Innovation

6:00 pm Sunday 15 Feb. to 22 Feb.
Al Sadu House – Arabian Gulf Road
Contact 22432395
www.alsadu.org.kw

Here is a personal note on how the exhibition came to be:

ZAY
A showcase of various interpretations of the traditional dress, to invigorate and revive its wear.

Nafnouf and Zeboun
In my book Traditions, I had researched and passionately documented aspects of the traditional arts and textiles of Kuwait. I recognized and focused on some beautiful and significant examples of the traditional dress. Today I carry this interest and fascination a step further, into the realm of actual design. I take the zeboun, the robe worn by women and men in the past and the nafnouf dress, and try to revitalize their wear. To give both a modern line with a traditional essence.

I appreciate cooperation of Kaveri Agarwal, a young designer from India who I met through the Textile Art Association meetings. Kaveri has worked for some time in manufacturing and reviving the traditional Indian dress and textiles in her country, India, and thus understood my enthusiasm and vision and could execute it well.

ZAY is also an interesting attempt at cultural exchange. In the past the Kuwaiti merchants sailed to India in search of fine silks and gold thread for their dress and embroidery. It may be that again we follow that ancient cultural route.

I hope this artistic and cultural endeavor will give you the joy and pleasure it did for me.

Celebrating traditions…
Altaf Salem A. Al Sabah
Kuwait 2009

Proceeds of the sales go to the HAYAT Charity, caring for cancer patients in Kuwait.

Abdullah, a reader of the blog sent me a picture of the giant wall sticker above which he took while he was in the States. The reason he sent it to me is because it looked very similar to Kuwait’s national logo (also pictured above). I wonder if a Kuwaiti living in the States remixed the logo or if Shepard Fairey (the guy behind OBEY) did it himself. He already admitted that his famous Obama Hope poster was based on a copyrighted photograph so it wouldn’t be to far fetched to think that he based this design on the Kuwaiti national logo. For those of you who don’t know anything about OBEY or Shepard Fairey, check this [Link]

Deera Chat found an article online which talks about how Kuwait last month purchased nearly 6 million anti-nuclear radiation drugs. The question here is WHY? What exactly are they expecting to happen in the near future??? Here is the link to the news article. [Link] Here is a link to NukePills.com, the website which sells these pills. [Link]

What do these Potassium Iodide pills do? According to NukePills.com:

Potassium Iodide (KI) is used by health officials worldwide to prevent thyroid cancer in people who are exposed to radioactive iodides caused by nuclear reactor accidents and nuclear bombs. It protects against radioactive iodine by preventing its absorption by the thyroid gland located in the neck…

We don’t have any nuclear reactors in the region (I don’t think we do) so that only leaves a nuclear bomb, who would want to nuke us?

I always knew hotel security was just a gimmick of a sort to let guests feel more secure but I didn’t think they sucked this much. The picture above is of a large container I had in my trunk last night when I drove through a hotel check point at a major hotel here in Kuwait. The hotel had the large metal door that comes out of the ground and security guards with the mirror on a pole checking underneath the car while another one checks the trunk. When I was asked to open my trunk I was like shit now they are going to tell me to remove the case from the back of my car to open it and I really wasn’t in the mood. Surprisingly even though they checked the trunk and saw the container they didn’t even ask me what was in it (it was camera equipment if you want to know). Me and my friend were dumbfounded! Why do they even bother to look in the trunk? How do they expect a bomb to look like, a few red dynamite sticks with a golden colored clock like in the cartoons?

Flooded McDonald’s is a film work by Superflex in which a convincing life-size replica of the interior of a McDonald’s burger bar, without any customers or staff present, gradually floods with water. Furniture is lifted up by the water, trays of food and drinks start to float around, electrics short circuit and eventually the space becomes completely submerged.

Yeah I know it sounds like a strange idea for a movie but thats what makes it interesting. Here is the link to the official site of the movie. [Link]

As I mentioned in my previous post I flew with Wataniya Airways to Dubai tonight. It was a very comfy flight since I flew first class. They are my clients so if I say they’re amazing many of you won’t believe me so I will just talk about some of their features.

When you get to the Wataniya Airways airport (Sheikh Saad Terminal) you will be greeted by a Wataniya Airways employee that will check you in while you wait in the first class lounge. When its time for you to board a Wataniya Airways employee will come to you and take you through emigration and then a private car will drive you to the plane. It feels like you’re traveling on a private jet basically.

The seats of the plane are very comfy, look great and are designed by Recaro who are known for their racing seats. First class have a very cool inflight entertainment system which consists of a huge 10.6inch touchscreen. Other than the on demand video the coolest feature has to be the fact you can plug in your iPod or any video device and watch your movies on the planes 10.6inch screen since it has RCA inputs which are located on the side of the seat. A power socket is also available. Finally you can currently send SMS’s and use your phones Internet connection while on the plane which was the first time I experience that. This is a feature available to everyone on board not just first class. Also by next month you should be able to make voice calls with your phone from the plane.

When you land in Dubai you are then guided through the airport by Marhaba employees. They are hired by Wataniya Airways for all their passengers not just first class to offer any kind of assistance needed. Overall a pretty great experience, I love their private airport. Because its just for Wataniya Airways there isn’t any kind of crowd and everything works a lot quicker. Will post pictures of the airport in a few days. If anyone has any questions regarding my experience you can post them in the comments and I will try my best to answer them.

Oh and one more thing. The duty free shop is digital, you flip through the products available for sale on your touch screen and you add whatever product you want into your cart. The flight attendants then bring you your items. I thought that was also pretty cool.

Update: Turns out in flight voice calls WON’T be available next month.

I am at the airport leaving to Dubai. I get back tomorrow morning but the interesting part is I am travelling first class on Wataniya Airways. I already know what to expect on the flight since they are my clients and so I am mostly looking forward to try their on flight features like smsing from my phone while in the air or checking my email with my blackberry. The inflight entertainment system also should be really cool. Will post pics once I get to my hotel room later tonight.