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I have two issues with gas stations in Kuwait. First is that there are only five stations (at least it feels that way) and the second is that they lack mini-marts. Maybe sometime in the future these issues will get fixed but for now it seems the priority was to face lift the oil change section.

The picture above is of the new Khidma oil change at the Kortaba station. Looks pretty but I would think if they were going to face lift something it would be the actual gas station and not the small oil change area.

[source]

I found a video online of photos of Kuwait taken right after the Gulf War so I emailed the owner of the video asking him if he could send me the pictures to post and he did. This is the description that was attached to the video:

We were sent to Kuwait in May 1991 to rebuild the Kuwait International Hotel for an upcoming conference. The project was canceled soon after we got to Kuwait due to security concerns. Kuwait City at this time, just a few months after the first gulf war, was in shambles. Almost nothing worked and there were vast amounts of arms still lying around. The fires were still going strong. So much so that flying into Kuwait was like entering an outer circle of hell.

All 74 photos below are credited to B. Dietrich, AIA

When I travel I wear what I call my travel watches. They are cheap digital watches which no one would want to steal in case I get mugged (don’t ask). For the past 2 years I’ve been using my Casio calculator watch but I recently decided I wanted a watch that could at least tell me the temperature. So after a bit of searching I decided to get the Timex Skiathlom. Its a very rare and strange (i.e. ugly) looking watch from the late 80’s. I used to have one back in 1990 and I figured I would get one. I had forgotten the name of the watch but after a bit of help from a Timex forum I managed to find the watch on eBay in excellent condition. It cost me around KD10 which isn’t too bad. Since there is barely any information on this watch online, I decided to scan the manual and take a clear frontal shot so that if anyone searches for this watch in the future they will find at least some info.

So if you’re interested in the Timex Skiathlom owners manual and a high resolution picture click [Here]

[flashvideo file=”video/fire.flv” /]

Nat shot this video earlier today on her way to the gym. She arrived to the scene just as the fire trucks did so she managed to capture some pretty decent footage. The car flipped over and caught fire just opposite the Flex gym on the Istiqlal Highway. According to a cop on the scene, the driver made it out before the car caught fire.

Ok this might sound like a strange subject since its about a pen but a few weeks back there was a free pen that was attached to a magazine I received. I don’t remember the name of the magazine but I trashed it and kept the pen. Today I needed a pen and grabbed the free pen randomly from my pen collection on the desk and I was completely surprised with the result.

Although the tip looks like a regular ballpoint pen when writing its super smooth and pretty thick. The result looks like it was written with an ink pen with varied color shading in places where your pen passed through faster or slower. The pen is called the Uni-Ball Gel Impact, I have the blue one but will definitely be getting a black one. And this ends my first and last post about a pen… maybe. [Link]

I love how this building looks like something out of a SciFi movie. I took this picture with my BlackBerry from the Al-Khalijieh building. I made it black and white just for added dramatic effect.

I ordered the Pocket Retro Game Emulator from ThinkGeek 10 days ago after reading about it on a few websites. Its a small portable game system that comes with built in emulators that would play games from the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, NeoGeo and a few other systems. Since I am a huge fan of retro gaming and since it would be a great addition to my collection, I ordered the device for $99.

The device has a built in 4GB drive so I quickly copied all my favorite games onto it and realized I still had nearly 4GB free so I copied ALL my Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo games onto it which amount to around 2000 games. I also copied a few NeoGeo games including SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos.

The device played everything I threw at it even SVC Chaos which was a huge shock. Not only that but the device also came with the appropriate cables to connect it to my TV so I could play the games there if I wanted to. Some SNES games weren’t running that perfectly for example NBA Jam was running slightly faster than it should and the sound in Donkey Kong Country was a bit strange but the device plays NHL ’94 perfectly which alone would make the game system worth $99. The build quality isn’t that great, it feels cheap and its pretty light. I am not sure how much abuse it would take but I doubt its as durable as a Nintendo DS or PSP.

Now one thing that kinda pissed me off is the fact that ThinkGeek is marketing this device with the name “Pocket Retro Game Emulator”. In reality the system turned out to be called the Dingoo Digital A320. A quick search on eBay for the Dingoo would result in a ton of results with the device priced at around $75. So if you want to buy one that’s where I would look. Will post a more thorough review at a later date.

Note: The device also plays movies and music. Also has a built in FM tuner and an eBook reader. The battery is built in and lasts over 5 hours. In case 4GB isn’t enough the device takes SD cards.

This mesmerizing digital sculpture is located at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. I think it looks super futuristic and its even cooler than the Kinetic sculpture at the BMW Museum. [YouTube]

I heard about this movie awhile back and just watched the trailer now. The movie is called “Kahin Na Kahin Milenge” and its the first Bollywood movie made in Kuwait. I am not sure if I got the story straight since the trailer is in Indian but I think its about this Indian girl who grew up in Kuwait and moved back to India and became a famous actress but then decided to move back to Kuwait because its her home? I could be wayyy off here so please correct me if I am wrong. [YouTube]

via adlyx and iLSuL6ana

Beautiful picture from 1964 of a young Indian couple in Kuwait. I wonder if the houses in the back are still standing. [Flickr]

via 2by4.org

I ordered a Jason Markk premium sneaker solution set and it just got held by Aramex as unacceptable material. Turns out they won’t ship liquid material I now have to send it back, sucks!

Ahmad Al-Bader, the owner of Burger Hub and Prime & Toast will be launching a new restaurant at the Avenues this summer called 86 Bistro. Twice a week he will be at the restaurant himself cooking at the Chef’s Table while interacting with the special diners. To promote the Chef’s Table and 86 Bistro, Ahmad will be releasing a cooking video every week, the first one being the video linked here. [YouTube]

Two days ago during the brief freak storm we had, the wooden paneling covering up the ESPRIT store at Avenues got blown away. A reader was there and took pictures which you can see above and below. The ESPRIT store is the one that burned down a few months back.

Thanks Sp4rkster

I’ve been given the go ahead by NBK to give you all a sneak peek into the brand new NBK website. They will be launching their new updated website sometime this month but before they go live they want to get some feedback. They do care what everyone thinks and if anyone spots any issues or has any comments on what they need to improve leave your comment below so they can read it. Check out their new website by visiting beta.nbk.com

At least he isn’t collecting burgers:

A citizen of Kuwait has applied to Guinness World Records for his collection of over 5,000 perfume bottles to be recognized as a world record, the Kuna news agency reported on Monday.

An astronomer by profession, Adel Al-Sadoun started collecting perfume bottles some 15 years ago, as he was charmed by the unique design created by perfume companies for their fragrances.

After gaining national fame for his unusual hobby, his collection was expanded by bottles given to him by friends and well-wishers. Some of the items are around 100 years old. [Source]

Thanks Jacob