Categories
Animals & Wildlife Kuwait

Flamingos massacred at the Abdaliya Nature Preserve

Taken from K’s PATH John Peaveler’s Facebook page:

Flamingos massacred at the Abdaliya Nature Preserve after poachers forced their way in on Thursday, November 17th, 2011. Even our responding staff who come from a rural part of India where live can be brutal thought to write the word “crime” with the shotgun shells. You can see their look of disgust. We were able to save two, one uninjured and one with a broken leg. Now we will try to save them.

Not sure what kind of people who shoot Flamingos for fun but this is horrible. If you’re logged in to Facebook you can see the pictures and get more information [Here] For more information click [Here]

Thanks Rayboy




Categories
Automotive Kuwait

Surveillance cameras?

Ignoring their spelling mistake but what exactly do they mean by surveillance cameras? Are these the regular speed cameras or have they installed something new?

Thanks Karim




Categories
Personal Reviews Travel

Turkish Airlines – Istanbul to New York

I should be posting about the Turkish airport and the Turkish Airlines Lounge but because I only spent around an hour at the airport I didn’t really have too much time to explore it. Since I’ll be spending more time at the airport on the return flight, I’ll post about the lounge once I get back to Kuwait. So instead, I’m going to post about the flight from Istanbul to New York.

The total travel time from Istanbul to New York is around 10 hours and 50 minutes and we flew in their Boeing 777-300ER V2. The business class setup on this flight was the latest one which is made up of just 4 rows split up as 2-3-2. One of the first people to greet you once you enter the business class is the chef which kinda sets a level of expectation on the kind of food you’ll be served during the flight. There’s obviously a ton of legroom in business class and it’s needed since the chairs turn into 180 degree flat beds. I wasn’t sure at first if they would be true 180 degree “flat beds” or instead be “lie flats” which are seats that turn flat but are slightly angled. I’ve experienced lie flats on two other airlines and they’re not as easy to sleep in and I always feel like I’m going to slide off them. Thankfully, the Turkish Airlines seats were proper flat beds which made sleeping really cozy.

Since the flight was long we were served two meals, one around an hour after take off while the other around 2 hours before arrival. The chef handled everything related to the food including handing out the menus which I noticed were customized with our names. It’s a little thing but gives the meals a very personal touch. The first meal we started off with were light appetizers which they rolled out on a trolley. You just tell the chef what you want and he’ll fill up your dish for you. Once we were done with the appetizers we were served soup which they only had one option called the traditional Turkish wedding soup. I had it and it tasted kinda like the Lebanese dish called “kebbeh bi laban” and that’s probably because think they both involve the same elements, beef and some sort of creamy sauce. After that we were presented with three options for main course, Swordfish Brochette, Grilled Beef Tournedos or Artichoke Ravioli. I went with the beef, Nat with the fish. She didn’t end up liking her fish much but I loved the beef. Once we were done with lunch they rolled out the dessert trolley which had a lot of different goodies. I was pretty full so I just went with ice cream. For my second meal later on in the flight I had a pasta dish and it was also superb.

The flight was very comfortable and I didn’t have any issues falling asleep on the flat bed. I’m actually not sure how I can fly economy knowing how much more comfortable it is in business. On short flights it’s not as important but when you’ve only slept for 3 hours and you get on board a 10 hour flight, the thought of being able to fall asleep comfortably on a cushy bed is priceless. Actually not priceless, just a lot more expensive than economy. We had large screens in front of us with a ton of movies and tv shows to watch. One disappointing thing was the fact internet access wasn’t active yet and was still “coming soon” according to the message I got on the screen when trying to access it. On the other hand they did have live news feeds available. Power sockets and USB sockets were available of course. If you have a USB stick or hard drive loaded up with movies you can watch them on your seats screen via the USB port. Not sure what movie formats their media player handles but I would be safe and not take any 720p or 1080p movies with me.

There’s an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and Elaine’s flights get cancelled and they had to rebook on another flight. They end up finding two seats left, one in first class and the another in economy. Jerry explains to Elaine how she should take the economy seat since she’s never flown first and really wouldn’t miss anything but he on the other hand has and so he could no longer fly economy. Well that’s me right now, next time I fly economy I’m going to be thinking about all the cool things I’m missing from business.




Categories
Personal Reviews Travel

Turkish Airlines – Kuwait to Istanbul

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I’m flying Turkish Airlines from Kuwait to New York Business Class courtesy of the airline. The trip is divided into two stages, the first is a short flight from Kuwait to Istanbul while the second is the longer journey, Istanbul to New York. One of the main reasons Turkish Airlines wanted me to review them is because they’ve gotten a brand new plane for the Kuwait – Istanbul leg of the journey which they’ve recently entered into service.

The new plane is an Airbus A321 and I think it was entered into service around a month ago if I’m not mistaken. First thing I noticed once I boarded the flight was the trendy color scheme of the seats which were dark gray and had minimal red accents and bright turquoise pillows. The seats have built in power sockets, USB ports, a large pull out screen and a remote control. Since the flight is a short one the seats don’t fold down flat into beds but they do recline back a good deal with leg supports as well. Since this was business class there was lots of legroom as well.

The trip going to Istanbul is 3 hours and 20 minutes long. One of the advantages flying with Turkish Airline to the States or any other European airline is the fact your journey starts by flying west which results in a quicker overall trip since you don’t waste time backtracking your flight path (if your journey started by going east for example).

Breakfast was served on this trip and even though I was told by some readers the food would be great I actually wasn’t expecting much for this first stage of the trip. I was wrong since the food turned out to be pretty good. They started of breakfast with some cheeses, labneh, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives. A light combination which I’ve noticed Turkish Airlines likes a lot since there was a similar setup at different stages of my trip (lounge and Istanbul-NY flight). There was also a bit of turkey, freshly squeezed orange juice, fruits, jam, butter and yogurt. Once I was done with my starter I was served a cheese and tomato omelet which was also very good. The whole meal actually made me look forward to the one I would be having on my next longer flight since there would be a chef on board on that one.

It was a pretty good start to my trip. My only quibble and I’m being picky here is the lack of a phone network on-board. The only planes I’ve been on where I could use my phone while flying to check my email and chat on BBM are the Wataniya Airways ones and I’d like to see other airlines introduce this feature as well. Below are some pictures I took on this trip.

Note: I will be posting about my Istanbul to New York flight as well as the lounge in separate posts.




Categories
Personal Travel

New York via Turkish Airlines

A couple of months back I got an email from Turkish Airlines asking me if I could try out their service and write about them. At first I figured they wanted me to fly to Turkey Economy Class but then I found out they actually wanted me to try their Business Class and gave me 6 very cool destinations to choose from:

Toronto
New york
Chicago
Los Angeles
Washington DC
São Paulo

I didn’t know much about Turkish Airlines back then other than their TV commercial featuring the football players so I was a bit surprised they actually flew as far as LA or São Paulo. It was pretty hard choosing a destination but in the end it was between LA and NY and since I was already planning a big trip to LA next year I decided to go with New York instead.

I’m leaving tomorrow early morning and will continue to post from New York although my timings will probably be off. This time around I’m staying at The MAve in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn since I’m going to be there for only a week and don’t want to waste any time commuting. The picture above is how my room should look like so will see how close to that it is once I get there.

Now Siri, find me the best burger place in New York!




Categories
News

Malls need more security

Teenager dies in Salmiya mall gang fight
A 19-year-old Iranian died of chest wounds and two other youths, including an Egyptian expatriate were severely injured in a bloody fight among some 80 individuals at a famous shopping complex in Salmiya area.

The youths are said to have used batons, knives and other sharp objects to attack each other and the injured people were left behind, bleeding profusely, while other members of the feuding party managed to escape at the sight of police. Even so, about 20 of them were taken into custody when paramedics referred the three injured people to the Mubarak Hospital for medical care. Later on, the Iranian died of internal bleeding. A case has since been registered for investigation.

Meanwhile, another group of youths engaged in a quarrel at the same commercial complex over a girl, resulting in severe injuries to a citizen of Kazakhstan and a Jordanian. The injured people were taken to the Mubarak Hospital by paramedics arriving at the scene with security operatives. A case was registered.

In yet another incident, two Kuwaiti juveniles suffered injuries in different places of their bodies, as they fought with six other juveniles at a public garden in Rumaithiya. Paramedics sent the injured citizens to the Mubarak Hospital, while securitymen referred the other juveniles to Juvenile Prosecution for investigation. [Source]

Rowdy youths harass, strip 3 girls naked in Hawalli mall
The Nugra police have arrested two youths, both believed to be criminals, for eve-teasing and tearing the clothes of three Arab girls because they did not give in to their mischief, at a shopping mall, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily.

According to eyewitness reports the youths were constantly harassing the victims and the latter criticized them in front of the people. The youths got annoyed and allegedly tore off the clothes of the girls, following which they screamed for help when they were left with only undergarments on. Someone called the police and the suspects have been taken into custody. [Source]

If these two horrifying incidents aren’t enough to have malls rethink their security then I’m not sure what is.




Categories
Information Kuwait Sports

Sidekick at the 2011 NAGA European Open

A team from Sidekick Academy took part in the 2011 NAGA European Open that was held in Paris, France over Eid. Like the US Open which they took part in back in July, the Sidekick team kicked ass again. Here are their results:

Hussain Gholoom
Gold ADCC teen intermediate
Silver Gi teens blue belt
Bronze no-Gi teen intermediate
Silver ADCC intermediate

Nasser Alqattan
Gold ADCC intermediate
Bronze Gi blue belt

Mahmoud Chragh
Bronze Gi blue belt

Mohammed Alnusif
Silver ADCC intermediate

For more information check out the Sidekick Facebook page [Here]




Categories
Design

The Burger Bar

A new burger place opened up in Lebanon and their logo looks pretty familiar.




Categories
Automotive Events Kuwait

Gulf Run 26Hour Endurance Karting Race

The Gulf Run karting event is coming up pretty soon. The race is taking place in Kuwait City on the 25th and 26th of November and it’s going to be a non-stop 26 hour endurance event. If it’s anything like their previous Gulf Run events then you know it’s going to kick ass. They still have some open slots so if you’re interested in putting together a team to participate it’s not too late. For more information and details check out my previous post [Here]




Categories
Apple Geek Information

How to get Siri to learn your home or work address if you live outside the US

A friend of mine figured out a way to get Siri to learn your home and work address as well as other addresses. Just follow the steps below:

1) Open the Maps App
2) Find your home, office or other location
3) Place a pin on the street in front of your location. Street not building or land etc…
4) Click the blue arrow that appeared over the pin
5) Click on Add to Contacts
6) If it’s your office address add it to your contact info
7) Go to your contact info, click on edit, then go down to the address you just added and make sure the label for that address is work (or if it’s your home address then home)

And that’s it. You can now tell Siri to remind you when you get home or to your office and she will do it. You could also add locations like super markets for example so you could tell teach Siri where Sultan Center is and then tell her to remind you to pick up milk once you get to Sultan Center and she’ll do that.

Thanks Saleh!




Categories
Food & Drinks Gossip & Rumors Kuwait

Fatburger at Burj Jassem

Fatburger is finally opening up their Burj Jassem branch in Kuwait City on the 25th of this month. Burj Jassem is located opposite the Ice Skating Rink.




Categories
Kuwait News

Closure of streets in the capital

According to an article on KuwaitNews.com, the municipality is going to be closing down some streets in the city and opening them up to pedestrians. The municipality is hoping to make the city a nicer place by doing so. They will be closing down Abdullah Al-Salem Street which is the one next to Liberation Tower as well as Palestine Street which is near Safat Square and the old souk. Both streets will be opened up to pedestrians from the first of November.

Although I find it a bit strange they’re closing down those two streets specifically, I do hope this experiment becomes a success since I want them to do the same to Salem Mubarek Street. Now that’s a street that would make more sense open only to pedestrians. Here is the link to the article [Link]

Thanks Ads2Blog

Update: Looks like it’s not the main Abdullah Al-Salem Street but the smaller branch of it on the opposite side of Safat Square (pictured above). It seems they’re closing the streets in and around the old souk which makes a lot more sense. I’ve highlighted in red on the map below what I understood are the streets they’re closing.

Thanks Barrak




Categories
Interesting Kuwait

Rawdatain turns to ice in the heat

No trickery involved, that’s really Rawdatain water that’s turning into ice in the heat. It’s done using a simple scientific phenomenon called “supercooling” where you can freeze water below it’s freezing point without it turning into ice until it gets disturbed. [YouTube]

Thanks Babar




Categories
Design Fashion Interesting Kuwait

Customize your Eastpak

The Chocolate & Chocolate blog posted pictures of the Eastpak event here in Kuwait where you could get your bag customized by graffiti artists. I like the artwork on the bag above and I’m now thinking of passing by and getting one of my bags tagged if it’s not too packed. The event is still on for another 2 days in case you’re interested. Here is a link to the blog post on Chocolate & Chocolate [Link] and here is a link for more information on the event [Link]




Categories
Food & Drinks Information Kuwait News

Smashburger coming to Kuwait

Another day another burger joint. Smashburger to me isn’t as exciting as Five Guys but, the more the merrier. First store will be opening up sometime next year. [Link]