Search: “ur”

Not sure when they started but iHop in Jabriya is now open 24 hours a day. Previously they were just open from 7AM to midnight. I’ve updated the Breakfast Places in Kuwait list accordingly.

Last month the power went out in my neighborhood for around 8 hours, this weekend it went out for 13. The thing is, it shouldn’t have been out for that long.

At exactly 9PM the power was cut in my neighborhood, the fact it was cut at exactly 9PM leads me to believe this was a planed maintenance cut. The problem though the portable generators like the one pictured above only arrived to my neighborhood at 1AM. There were 8 trucks and by the time they were all connected to the various power transformers around the block, buildings only started getting electricity by 3AM. By 4AM all the buildings got electricity except mine. Now if you’re planning on cutting the power off to hundreds of families in the middle of the hottest month of the year, at the very least have the generators ready to be plugged in ASAP so that people don’t have to suffer. Or, how about notifying the neighborhood by placing posters at the entrance of the buildings that will be affected to let them know that power will be cut off at this day at this time so that people can be prepared.

Now as I mentioned, by 4AM power was restored to all the buildings except mine. So me and some neighbors called up 152 which is the hotline for Electricity & Water Emergency. 152 was pretty useless. They transferred us to the electricity office up the street from my building in Salmiya. We explained to them what the problem was and they told us they had nothing to do with it and that we needed to contact the electricity office in Jabriya. We called Jabriya up and they were like this has nothing to do with us and that we need to contact the Salmiya office. So after running around in circles Jabriya finally agreed to send someone to check it out. by 5:30AM nobody had come yet so we called Jabriya up again. They told us there isn’t anything they can do now since the shift is nearly over and we would have to wait for the new shift at 6AM. 6:15AM we call them back up again, they were like they aren’t going to send someone over because there is maintenance work going on and power will be back soon. We asked if they could tell us where in Salmiya the work was being done so we could pass by them and get a time estimate from them. The guy on the other end got super pissed off, started yelling and telling us its none of our business and we had to end the call. Power came back four hours later 10:12AM.

What a clusterfuck. Whomever is in charge in Salmiya obviously doesn’t care about the residents. I’ve posted about the horrible garbage situation a million times before (still hasn’t been fixed btw), the horrible urban planning, the tall residential buildings with zero parking and now the complete lack of empathy towards its residents. There should be town hall meetings where residents can meet with whomever is in charge so we could voice our complaints. Better yet put me in charge of Salmiya already!

I’ve heard two different stories about the video above. The first story is that the gas pedal got stuck and the second story is that the driver was intoxicated.

I love this, a lot. The car is from Kuwait and I’m guessing its probably the same group of guys who do the yearly Jahra to Europe trip. If anyone knows them please put me in touch. I’d love to join them on their next trip and document the whole experience. I’ve got my Datsun, just need to plaster some cheesy stickers on it and it will be ready. [YouTube]

In case you’ve missed the posts from the previous years, here are some links:

No Speak English – Kuwait to Paris 2015
Donuts in the Alps
From Jahra to London

Vigonovo is a new small Italian restaurant that just opened up a couple of days back in Salmiya. The restaurant is run by an Italian chef called Marco and I passed by yesterday to check it out. Vigonovo is the name of a town in Northern Italy where Marco comes from so he infuses the characteristic and flavors of his province into his dishes. The menu is fairly small consisting of 3 salads, 4 first mains, 3 second mains and a few desserts. Only a few of the items are permanently on the menu while the rest change all the time. Every morning Marco heads to the local market to see what produce is available and based on his findings, he creates a menu for the day. I like that. A lot.

You could check out yesterdays menu (and prices) since I took a picture of it [Here]. I went with the Cupcake Lasagna, the Pumpkin Tortelli with Smoked Ricotta, the Frico & Polenta and finally the Amaretto for dessert. The portions are all fairly small, similar to tapas so you could mix and match. I hadn’t had this much carbs in months but everything sounded too tempting not to try. Since the place literally just opened it wouldn’t be fair for me to review the food but I did pass Marco and feedback I had. I will say this though, everything was light and the presentation was fantastic. It isn’t a fancy Italian restaurant, it’s a casual homey place with freshly prepared homestyle Italian food. We don’t have anything like it here.

Vigonovo is located in Salmiya where Gia is located in Al Khaled Complex. They’re right next door to Lorenzo in the shop called “Rose Gathering” since the restaurant is actually called “Vigonovo by Rose Gathering”. Vigonovo is currently open daily from 5PM onwards except on Fridays when they close. Definitely worth checking out. Here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account is @vigonovo_kw

Washington Post have an article on muslim female athletes and Kuwaiti athletes are featured prominently in it. It’s an interesting article that highlights the struggle muslim female athletes go through in the Arab world but it also kind of shows how liberal Kuwait is (or can be). Kuwaiti athletes won’t be able to participate at the Rio Olympics this year under the Kuwaiti flag due to the ban imposed on Kuwait by the IOC, but I believe there will be a number of Kuwaiti female athletes competing (Faye Sultan is confirmed), I’m just still waiting to get the final list so I can share it. Here is the link to the Washington Post [Article]

Temperatures Thursday reached an incredible 54°C (129.2°F) in Mitribah, Kuwait, setting the record for the warmest temperature ever recorded outside of California’s Death Valley, according to a Weather Underground report. [Source]

That was it? I guess there isn’t much of a difference between 54°C and our usual 51°C weather. Today felt like just any other day.

Thanks Kinda

This latest seizure netted over 10 million Captagon pills with a street value of KD25 million. If the whole population is 3.3 million, that means this one haul was large enough to give every single person in Kuwait 3 pills. How popular is this drug in Kuwait? [YouTube]

Thanks Gravity

The Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre was expected to open back in February but it’s now expected to open in November. It looks ridiculously good.

Thanks lovelykuwait

Burger Boutique are opening their second location in The View Tower, the same building as Marks & Spencer and Whole Foods. I only noticed it a couple of days back and according to them they’ll be opening in around a months time. Burger Boutique was what set the trend for locally created burger joints and their only other location is in Arraya Complex in the city. There is a Burger Boutique Black in Murooj as well but that it their more upscale version of the brand and has a different menu. If you don’t know where The View Tower is, here it is on [Google Maps]

Meme’s Curry is a Japanese curry restaurant that opened a few years back by two Kuwaiti chefs. It originally started off as a home business before opening their first location… in Rihab Complex. I was never a fan of the location for obvious reasons but a couple of weeks ago they opened up in a new location in The View, the same complex that houses Marks & Spencer and Whole Foods in Salmiya. So if you’ve been meaning to try them out but been put off with their original location, here is their new location on [Google Maps]

According to a recent news report on Al Rai, the Kuwait Airport have updated the security screening stations on departure. The airport increased the security stations from a previous total of four to a new total of six. One station for first/business class passengers as well as flight crew, two for GCC residents and three machines now for expats.

On a related note, Kuwait Airways no longer flies direct to New York but instead has to stop in Ireland for a security check before continuing to the States. I understood that it’s due to the poor security checks at the Kuwait Airport. United Airlines stopped their Kuwait – Washington route earlier this year and one of the rumored reasons was because of poor airport security and it makes sense now. Last year there were also rumors that British Airways would halt all flights from Kuwait unless security at the airport was improved.

Back in the 90s, White Tower in Salmiya used to be similar to Rihab Complex, the whole top floor was full of video game stores but there were also a bunch of arcade shops. It was the place to go to if you wanted to play fighting games against other people but also if you wanted to play now classic games like Metal Slug. Oh the amount of money I spent on Metal Slug…

Anyway, I passed by White Tower a couple of days ago to see if anything was still open and to my surprise there was still one arcade shop still standing. It wasn’t in the best of state but they did have recent games. Some of the games they had were the following:

Street Fighter V
Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
King of Fighters (all of them)
Marvel vs Capcom

And if I understood correctly they had a bunch of NeoGeo games as well. Best part is it still costs exactly the same as it did back in the 90s to play a round, just 100fils. If you win you keep playing for free of course. If you don’t know where White Towers is, here it is on [Google Maps]

If you’re fasting quickly look away since this list isn’t meant for you. On the other hand if you’re not fasting and want to order food before Iftar then below are some restaurants that can deliver you food:

Adobo Burritos
Deliveries start after 1PM
Telephone: 69957242

China Garden
Deliveries start after 11AM
Telephone: 25720010

China Kitchen
Deliveries start after 11:30AM
Telephone: 25738754

Finger Sushi
Delivers anytime, they’re open 24 hours
Telephone: 60002929

HanHum Restaurant
Deliveries start after 2:30PM
Telephone: 22270234

Marina Thai
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 23720040

Max Restaurant
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 25750647

Noodles Restaurant
Deliveries start after 1PM
Telephone: 25749933

Osaka
Deliveries start after 10AM
Telephone: 22637331

Poele
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 69998291

Q Cafe
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 22495067

Sauceges
Deliveries start after 9AM
Telephone: 51474777

Sea Taste Restaurant
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 66395655

Zafran
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 22285203 or 97281007

Finger Sushi is open 24 hours so you could order from them anytime but there are a few other places that open up before noon as well like China Garden, Osaka and Sauceges. I’ll be updating the list above as I find out about more places, if you know of a place that delivers before Iftar let me know in the comments.

Hello everybody and Ramadan Mubarak to you and your families. Since a part of Ramadan is being grateful to the things around you, I thought I would write to let you all know (and Mark) that I am very grateful for the chance I get to connect with you all through 248am and share my legal knowledge.

A lot of my readers are concerned about working hours in Ramadan, yet the law is very clear about the maximum hours. They are 36 hours a week, that averages to 6 hours a day because it is a 6 day working week (usually with Saturdays off as a paid leave).

I know that a lot of businesses have divided their shifts into two, one before and one after iftar, and a lot of you are asking, is this legal? Yes it is as long as you don’t work for more than 36 hours a week (anything more you should be paid overtime with cash and not extra days off, unless that’s what YOU want).

I hope that helped, and I hope you all have a lovely Ramadan.

Feel free to email me on [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to announce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.