Categories
Guest Bloggers

Here We Go Again

frontpage.jpg

(I lay first claim to this land)

We have been trying to get back on here for a while now… its needs to be spiced up…

I want to change the damn color from Magenta or Magneta or what ever the hell it is to Pink… Pink is more suitable..

First Off, I will go order some Shawarma and get back to posting later.




Categories
Kuwait Personal

20 speeding tickets?!?! +1

I am traveling tomorrow to Beirut for 3 nights so I was just checking moi.gov.kw to see if I have a travel ban and while I was there decided to check on my speeding tickets. I was hoping they had miraculously disappeared but instead I was greeted with a new amount, KD680. Since the last time I checked another ticket got added to the system and its dated October 31st. This is a good sign because in October and November my average speed was higher than the rest of the year so 1 ticket for October is good and now I am hoping November isn’t going to be bad. I’ve been looking for wasta to solve my tickets issue since I heard without wasta I will most likely serve jail time and although that sounds really fun I currently can’t fit it into my schedule.

While at the MOI website I decided to check out other things like my car insurance. Turns out I have two cars and a bike registered under my name that have expired insurance. My car I found out about last week but the other car and my bike I didn’t know about. I don’t even know what the other car is actually, the Wrangler is in Nat’s name. Weird.

Anyway I still can’t figure out how to check if I have a travel ban. I guess I will find out tomorrow.




Categories
Design Kuwait Personal

New Burgan Bank Logo

burgan logo

Burgan Bank today launched a new logo and personally I think it can’t get any more generic than this. I think they should have just given their old logo a face lift by simplifying the sun rays and maybe going with two tones of blue instead of the Gradient. For their typeface I would have killed the serif and gone with san serif which they actually did in the new logo. Actually the only positive thing in the new logo is their logo type but their icon on the other hand is very boring and forgettable. Not only that but where is Kuwait in the logo? Gulf Bank have the dhow, NBK have the camel, CBK have the arabesque star and now Burgan Bank have a… ribbon? Where is the locality? Where is the strength and trust? They’ve recently redone their branches into a very clean modern looking environment so why did they go with a logo that was already outdated in style before it even launched. This logo should never have left the design studio yet let alone presented to the client and gotten accepted.

What other bloggers have to say
Tatabotata: “This is the most disgusting redesign I have seen in a while.”
Patrick: “Why? But why?!”

Elsewhere
AMEINFO: “The design of the new corporate identity draws inspiration from a ring, which has been used cross-culturally for thousands of years as a symbol of partnership and commitment.”

Further Information
The logo was done by an agency in Bahrain and not LOM | FDP who were responsible for their branch redesigns

Update: The agency in Bahrain behind the redesign is Vision Communications.




Categories
Fashion Sneakers

What the dunk?

what the dunk

These sneakers are called “What the dunk” and they are by Nike. They were originally released for $129 but now fetch over $1500 on ebay. If I paid $1500 for shoes I would wear them pretty often so the question here is how do you keep sneakers that cost $1500 from getting old and worn out? [Link]




Categories
Sports

We came 17th!

Red Bull sent us the results of the Flugtag and we weren’t last we actually came in 17th place! Pretty cool.

1 THE FLYING STARS
2 OPTICAL BOYS
3 BLACK PEARL
4 MISHAAL AL NAJADI
5 AMZN
6 THE PHOENIX
7 eL ¼
8 THE RED CARPET TEAM
9 THE FLYING PIRATES
10 NISSAN ZEPPELINS
11 DRAGON FLY
12 CIRQUE DU SULTAN
13 HUNGER 7
14 BLIZZARD
15 BUTTER FLY
16 THE FLYING MUMMY
17 IMPERIAL 27
18 HKM 3
19 DIET CENTER
20 B-TUNES
21 FLYING ANGELS
22 DREAM TEAM
23 BENQEEZ
24 FLYING LOGISTICS
25 DIVAS TEAM
26 4TH RING
27 PIRATES OF THE ARABIAN
28 AUTO TECH




Categories
Automotive Events Kuwait

Photos from the 2007 Kuwait Motor Show

I haven’t had the chance to pass by the motor show yet but yo_ghurt has a ton of pictures on his flickr account which you can check by clicking [Here]




Categories
Interesting Photography

Airplane Oops! Situations

plane oops

An interesting collection of photos but I wish there was some information attached to every image. [Link]




Categories
Food & Drinks Kuwait Personal Reviews

Review: Cheeburger Cheeburger

Chee Burger

I got an email today from a reader informing me of a new burger place that opened up called Cheeburger Cheeburger. Its an American chain that opened up their first international branch here in Kuwait last month and according to their website, their burger was voted the best burger in 28 cities. The problem was where they opened up their location, Souk Salmiya. I hate that place, its probably one of the worst designed malls in Kuwait containing some of the crappiest stores and its always over crowded and parking is always nearly impossible to find. Still, I decided it might be worth the visit and so after work I headed straight to Cheeburger Cheeburger.

The place is located on the top floor in the food court and their location is surprisingly pretty big. The interior is themed like Johnny Rockets which is the 1940’s-50’s style although I doubt they copied Johnny since both restaurants launched around the same time back in 1986. When I got the menu I noticed they had a limited time special offer going on where 1/3 lb burger with fries and coke was priced at KD2.250 while everything else on the menu had 25% off. I decided to go with their combo and I ordered a side order of onion rings with dipping sauce. The way you order the burger at Cheeburger is you choose the thickness of the burger, you then choose the type of cheese you want on it (they have 8 kinds) and then you choose what toppings you want and if you want any certain sauce. I didn’t get too creative with mine since it was my first time, I just went with swiss cheese, ketchup, tomato and lettuce.

A few minutes after placing my order my coke arrived and it was in a jar! I thought that was pretty creative since I don’t recall ever getting my softdrink in anything but a cup. While waiting for my appetizers I noticed a bunch of Trivial Pursuit cards on the table near the salt and pepper shakers. At first I assumed that some kid had left them behind but then I noticed every table had a bunch of cards. Turns out they have them there for the customers to entertain themselves with while they wait for their food to arrive.

The first thing the waitress brought me were my onion rings and fries followed shortly after with my burger. The onion rings were skinny but delicious, the dipping sauce had a lot to do with it. Anyone who’s had the awesome blossom at Chili’s will recognize the sauce immediately, I love it. The fries were good but nothing to set it apart from the competition. My burger, well I can’t imagine it being voted the best burger in 28 cities. It wasn’t bad, on the contrary it was good, it just wasn’t special. Thats probably my fault though since I went pretty safe with the toppings. The bread was good, the meat was good, it was everything else in the burger that didn’t stand out. Maybe next time I could try their one pound burger, according to their website if you can finish it they would put your picture up on the wall and I can’t imagine it being that difficult to finish.

The place in general wasn’t disappointing, they had a lot of little things that made it special and thats what I liked about the place. For example nyone who’s eaten at Johnny Rockets knows how crap their paper napkins are, they are too tiny and too thin. Well at Cheeburger Cheeburger their paper napkins are kitchen paper rolls which is fantastic. I know napkins aren’t usually important in a restaurant review but I just wanted to use it as an example of the little things I am talking about. My biggest disappointment in the place is the location and location is everything. I hate Souk Salmiya and I know I am not the only one. If Cheeburger Cheeburger was open at say Marina Mall or in Jahra then I would go back again over and over but sadly I doubt I would go back to Souk Salmiya unless I really had to. If it was located anywhere else it would most probably get a 4 out of 5 but because its in Souk Salmiya I am giving it a 3. My bill came out to be KD3.150 which I think is a steal. You can check out their menu by clicking [Here]




Categories
Movies

New Cloverfield Trailer (01-18-08)

cloverfield

A new trailer is out for Cloverfield and it practically confirms there is a monster… although we still can’t see it. The release date is coming up quickly and if we are lucky it will get released in Kuwait the same time as the US. I was just checking the Cinescape website and The Matador just got released here.. two years behind so you never know. [Trailer]




Categories
Automotive Events

The Gulf Run 2007

Gulf Run 2007

I am back in Kuwait after what surprisingly was an exhausting weekend. The Gulf Run was incredibly fun and the guys were all really entertaining on and off the track. Everyone either knew everybody else or had one friend in common at least. I think in total there were either 22 or 24 cars that raced on the track ranging from Porsches and Nobles to a Murcielago and a Ford GT 40. My favorite car probably has to be the yellow RUF which although didn’t participate on the race track did participate in the drag race.

Although the event wasn’t held in Kuwait it was a Kuwaiti event and like the Red Bull Flugtag that was held a few weeks ago, its good we have these events happening in Kuwait. We really need more of these events and we REALLY need a race track here in Kuwait. I would like to thank the organizers of Gulf Run for putting it all together and the sponsors who helped made it happen including Magic, Agility, Huper Optik and U Shop We Ship.

I took around 80 pictures at the event trying my best to capture the moments, the people and the cars. In this post I have only 7 pictures, I might post some more again later but the majority of my pictures have people in them and those I will only be sharing with the Gulf Run participants. I will go through my pictures again and see what else I could post but you can enjoy these for now.

Gulf Run 2007

Gulf Run 2007

Gulf Run 2007

Gulf Run 2007

Gulf Run 2007

Gulf Run 2007

More pictures [Here]




Categories
Blog Info

Gulf Run Tomorrow

gulf run

Right after work I will be heading out to the airport with a friend of mine where we will both be taking the Jazeera Airways flight to Bahrain. Gulf Run will be held tomorrow at the Bahrain Circuit from 8AM to 6PM. I will be taking my cameras so I will be probably posting pictures once its done and maybe even video if I have the time although I doubt. I don’t think I will be blogging much until I get back Friday evening but I will probably be doing some picture blogging using my phone.




Categories
Food & Drinks Kuwait Personal Reviews

Review: Ricardo – Sheraton

Ricardo

I’ve been wanting to try out Ricardo ever since I was a kid. I used go have lunch at Al Hambra Restaurant with my family before the Gulf War and when I was done I would wonder around the large hotel lobby and then all the way to the back where Ricardo is located and it always looked mysterious and a place for grownups. Fast forward to the present, I no longer pass by Sheraton as much since there are a lot more restaurants available in Kuwait and more competitively priced. But, when I do pass by its always back to Al Hambra where they have one of my favorite buffets in Kuwait. Yesterday night though I decided to break my routine and finally go and try Ricardo.

I made reservations earlier in the day and we got there on time and were quickly seated in a non-smoking section as I had requested. Problem is like every other restaurant in Kuwait, all the best tables are in the smoking section. Still, ours wasn’t bad and we had a good view of the live band that was playing. When we got the menu I realized they had a much larger variety of dishes then I had expected. I was expecting a small menu with a few appetizers and a handful of main courses but instead I was greeted with two pages of appetizers, around eight pages of main courses and two pages of specials. Too many choices. In the end we settled for fried calamari and prawns and cream of mushroom soup for starters, then I had the salmon tortelloni for my main course while Nat went with the giant prawn ravioli.

Our starters didn’t take too long to arrive and when they did I was surprised by the quantity. They aren’t stingy thats for sure. The mushroom soup was one of the best I’ve ever had and the calamari and prawns was also really great. The tartar sauce that came with the calamari and prawns was the same one they use at Al Hambra which is what I use as a basis for all tartar sauces, its just delicious. So far I wasn’t disappointed.

Soon after our main courses arrived and thats where I wasn’t impressed. My tortelloni sounded a lot better in writing, salmon stuffed tortelloni covered with a creamy sauce containing two types of caviar and salmon and prawns on the side. The sauce though wasn’t that great and since the sauce was one of the primary sources of flavor the end result was a good dish but nothing special. Nats ravioli was also just good but the problem with her dish was that it was over priced mostly because the prawns weren’t really giant.

We didn’t have dessert although I was tempted to but as I said earlier, their food quantity is good and so we were really full by the end of our meal. Overall the experience was good, the music although not my style suited the candle lit table and the service was excellent as expected. The price on the other hand I have mixed feelings about. Our starters, the calamari and prawns cost KD6 while the mushroom soup cost KD3.5 which I think is very fair for both dishes. My main course the salmon tortelloni cost KD12 which isn’t too bad either. Nats dish on the other hand, the giant prawns ravioli was for KD15 which I think is over priced, it should also have been KD12. Over all the prices are a lot more decent then I was expecting them to be. Most of the pastas on the menu were under KD10 while the main courses ranged in prices from KD12 to KD20 with only one lobster dish costing KD35. In the end though I am going to have to give it a rating of 3.5 out of 5. Maybe if we had ordered different main courses the score could have been as high as a 4.5 but based on what we had and not on what we could have had plus the fact that I didn’t think the prawn ravioli should have cost that much, 3.5 is what I am forced to give it. I will be going back again thats for sure if I can pull myself away from Al Hambra that is.




Categories
Design Food & Drinks

RubyTuesday by Pentagram

Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday have redesigned their identity and it was handled by Pentagram, the same agency who were responsible for the Commercial Bank of Kuwait identity back in the 70s. I prefer the new logo and how its being applied but I know a lot of people think type based identities are the lazy way out. What I also find interesting is that Appleebee’s just rebranded, so now I am wondering if Chilis or TGIF could be next. [Link]

via Brand New




Categories
Interesting Kuwait Movies

Sharq Film

Sharq Film

I’ve been wanting to watch the movie Sharq ever since I first saw the trailer back in February and it seems the movie is finally getting released. The new website is up and running at www.sharqfilm.com and you can now book tickets to the early screenings of the movie for November 18 and 19th. If you don’t know what the movie is about then check out the trailer on their website. I just booked two tickets for the 18th. [Link]

update: According to reader comments it seems the movie was already released a few months back and is available on DVD.




Categories
Kuwait Personal

Name this DJ

99.7 FM Radio Kuwait

So a friend calls me up and tells me to tune into 99.7 at around 7PM. He tells me there is this DJ, shes new, been on the radio now for maybe 6 months and she sucks really bad, like worse than Dr La Bouche. So I was in the car on the way to have dinner when I decided to turn the dial to 99.7. Once the song Barbie Girl finished playing (yeah they still play it) the DJ came on and thats when I wished Barbie Girl would play again. OK maybe she wasn’t THAT bad but she was bad, she had an annoying voice and she wasn’t make any sense. What is she doing on the air and who is she? Under normal circumstances I would check the official 99.7 website except that their site is still suspended. I did record some of the radio broadcast though using my phone and you can listen to it by clicking [Here]