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I took my car yesterday to the Al Falah car wash to get it detailed by their Showhine service since everyone I know takes their car there. Marzouq posted about them before and last year it was the official Gulf Run car wash so it was a no-brainer choosing them to do the detailing.

I took an appointment on Saturday to drop off the car on Monday but I got lucky since someone canceled their appointment and I ended up dropping my car off on Sunday instead. The whole detailing process took 24 hours and when I went to pick up the car they told me to take all the time I wanted and to go over every inch of the car to try and find a spec of dust which as expected I didn’t find. They then told me to remove this small tape from the seats which revealed a dark red spot. Turns out that was the color of the seats when I brought it in and they were able to return it to the original red color. The exterior of the car got polished, the rims got polished, the seats got conditioned and the whole car was just sparkling.

They were really great and very professional but the best part is they aren’t an international franchise but a local business. The detailing cost me KD40, originally they quoted me KD50 but since the Z4 is like half a car I was able to negotiate the price down a bit. I would definitely recommend them so try them out if you need detailing done.. They’re located in Kuwait City (if Tri-Star is on your right, keep going straight past where Al-Mulla used to be, past the first traffic light and then take a right on the second traffic light where you will find them on the right corner). You can call them on 22452432 for an appointment.

Marzouq has just posted a review of his experience at Atlantis in Dubai. In summary he doesn’t think the hotel is currently ready to handle a large amount of visitors, its also over priced and the quality of the rooms wasn’t up to par. The fact that you can hear through walls gives the impression the hotel was put together on a tight budget with all the money going towards the entertainment. [Link]

I passed by Napket tonight at the Avenues for dinner although I was hesitant at first. Over the weekend when I found the place open and I tried to take a picture of the place from the outside the manager of Napket wouldn’t let me which pissed me off and then I read a lot of negative stuff about their service on the Kuwait & Food Facebook group so that also put me off. But I decided to put that all aside and try the place myself.

The place looks really great, probably one of my favorite restaurant interiors in Kuwait and they definitely have my favorite outdoor terrace. I started checking their sandwiches, Nataly their salad when we were approached by a waiter who asked us what we wanted to have. I decided to go with The NY Thing which was kinda like a club sandwich while Nataly decided to go with this wrap I forgot what it was called but it had shrimps and watercress. We then went and sat down outside near their small fountain which overlooks the big Avenues one.

The food arrived shortly there after and they came on really cool wooden plank like plates. Both the sandwiches were great and I would definitely have them again. Their bread I am guessing is baked in house and was probably the highlight of the sandwiches. I really couldn’t find anything negative except probably for the price. Its not cheap. Two sandwiches and a coke cost KD8.200 which is more expensive than a proper 3 course meal at my favorite Chinese restaurant Ceasars. Still, I would definitely go back.

Pictures above are of Napket Kuwait and was provided by them.

Maybe Slider Station can add this to their menu since its very easy to make and the idea alone sounds delicious. First you make two grilled cheese sandwiches then you grill a burger and stuff it between the two grilled cheese sandwiches and you end up with the Fatty Melt! This is pure genius!! [Link]

So let me get this straight. Parking your car for five days at the airports long term parking costs KD10 (KD2 a day). Now if I park my car there for twenty days and then lose my card do I also end up paying only KD10? Is that why the parking is always full and there are a ton of cars that look like they’ve been parked there for months?

Yesterday someone emailed me and asked me if I had heard about what happened on the 5th Ring Road and today morning someone at the office also asked me the same thing. What I understood is that a guy pulled out a gun on his wife and they had to stop traffic. Anyone know what really happened? (if there was actually an incident)

Update: Its in some of the papers including Al Rai where the picture above was taken from. Here is the link to the article. [News Article]

My friend had her Yahoo account taken over (her mistake) and now all her friends are getting the following email from her:

hello,
I hope this message meets you in best of health, Pardon my mistakes because I am in a hurry writing this, I had traveled to Nigeria for official purposes, Unfortunately for me all my money was stolen at the hotel where I lodged, I am so confused right now,I do not know what to do or where to go,I did not bring my phone here,I have access to only emails, please can you send me $3000

I find that really funny but on a serious note has anyone ever had their Yahoo email taken over and then had the password reset again by Yahoo?

Just an update to my problem with Pirelli. I passed by the main Pirelli branch in Al-Rai today near Ace Hardware. It was my first time there and the main branch is wayyyy nicer than the Canada Dry street one. I chatted with the manager for a bit and he explained to me how they train their employees really well and how customer satisfaction is very important to them. He apologized for the mess up and told me they would replace all four tires with P Zero Run-Flats which are the original tires I had asked for. He was a really friendly guy and the next time I need anything from Pirelli I would definitely go back to this branch and not the Canada Dry one. Glad this got solved quickly.

Some Contrast just posted a link to a local website where you can order home made Sushi. They have a ton of rolls to choose from and they all look pretty good and competitively priced. The minimum amount for an order should be at least KD5 which is very reasonable. You can check out their website by going to www.sushi-kw.com

The picture above was taken from Some Contrast

I finally got my Wrangler aligned today. I was having trouble finding a place that would actually do it since every place I went to forwarded me to another place because of my mud type tires. Today I finally found a place that was willing to do the aligning for me, they were located right at the beginning of Canada Dry street and are called Auto1. They had the Hunter alignment machine which I heard was the best brand and the guy there didn’t have a problem with my tires neither did he bring it up as a problem. The whole process took around 2 hours because they were having problems getting the rear aligned and at one point there were actually 4 guys working on the Jeep. Really great service and the whole thing, front and rear alignment plus steering wheel adjustment cost me only KD25. For regular cars they charge KD15. If you have a lift kit and large tires this is the place to go.

Its been a while since I had a major complaint about anything but my latest incident with the Pirelli dealer in Kuwait is just unbelievable. Its probably the worst experience I have ever had with any dealership in Kuwait.

Two month ago Nataly got a flat tire with the Z4 on her way to work. Since the car doesn’t come with a spare tire I had to leave work and meet up with her on the side of the road and then call a tow truck to take the car to Shuwaikh. I spend a lot of time traveling on work related trips and this incident made me realize its better if I fit the car with run-flat tires so that just in case she does get a flat she could at least drive back home instead of having to pull over in the middle of no where and try to find help.

So I get into the tow truck and instruct the driver to take me to Canada Dry street. We park outside the Pirelli dealer there and go inside and meet a salesman called Usman Ali who gave me the prices of their run-flat tires. I then walk across to the other side of the street and get the prices of the Michellin run-flats. Since Pirelli was having an offer their prices turned out to be much cheaper and I decided to fit run-flats from them. They had two tire threads to choose from and I chose the more expensive sportier ones, the P-Zero’s. After fitting the tires and before I left the place I asked the salesman how fast I could drive when I get a flat, he replies telling me the max speed is 80km/h. That was two months ago.

A few days ago after leaving her gym Nat falls into a deep pothole and gets a flat. She calls me up and I tell she can continue to drive home but she shouldn’t exceed the speed 80km/h.

Today I took my Wrangler and headed out to Canada Dry to buy a new tire for her car. I went to the Pirelli dealer and I gave them my tire size and model and the guy tells me those aren’t run-flats. I am like what do you mean? He was like just wait a few moments until the salesman comes back. When the salesman came back I recognized him as the guy who sold me my tires. So I tell him I need a tire for my car and I give him the size and he tells me they have them in stock. I was like yeah but the other guy said they are not run-flats. The salesman (Usman Ali) tells me they have the same power as run-flats. I was like that doesn’t make any sense you think I am an idiot?? I came in 2 months ago asking for run flats and you sold me 4 tires and I paid over KD400 for them and today I find out you lied to me and sold me regular tires not run-flats. He asks me why I waited 2 months to come in and complain and not 2 or 3 days after I had installed them. I was like are you serious?? What you wanted me to drive to Michellin after installing my tires and have them double check to make sure you installed run-flats for me??? My wife had a flat tire 2 days ago and thats how I found out you lied to me.

After around 20 minutes of the guy trying to convince me that I hadn’t asked for run-flats and he hadn’t told me they were run-flats I realized nothing was going to come out of this and I left. Now I am home trying to figure out what to do about this. I feel cheated! This isn’t a small lie. I told Nat she could drive her car with the flat at a speed of 80km/h which is dangerous with regular flat tires. Not only did the guy put Nat at risk but you could also damage the car and rims driving that fast with a flat. The only thing I can think of doing now is sending out emails to Pirelli and hoping someone in management will try and solve this problem for me. Will post an update once something happens.

Update: Just got a call from the Pirelli manager, I will be passing by them tomorrow to solve the problem.

Update2: Problem solved! [Link]

I am not a big fan of Eureka Electronics but this deal is just incredible not to mention. Eureka currently have a special offer on the Acer Aspire One and they are selling them for only KD59. Thats super cheap, thats cheaper than Amazon cheap. The Acer Aspire One is an ultra portable notebook computer that competes directly with the Asus Eee and MSI Wind. The KD59 deal is on the Acer with the following specs: Intel Atom 1.6ghz, 512MB RAM, 8GB HD and comes with Linux pre-installed. No idea on how many they have in stock but if you want one I am presuming you need to move fast.

Thanks Cajie

Aramex just delivered my D90 camera. I ordered it once it got released late last month as a replacement for my Nikon D70 which had started showing its age. I originally purchased the D70 for my Miskan project back in November 2004 to replace my aging Sony F717. I still love my D70 and it still performs really great but its developed a problem that’s common to the D70’s where it has trouble reading the memory card. Although I hate zoom lenses I ordered the D90 with the kit lens. Since I will be trying to shoot short movies I figured a zoom lens would definitely come in handy. I still have my eyes on the Nikon 20mm f2.8 lens and the Nikon 85mm 1.8f lens. Maybe for Christmas…

Note: The Nikon D90 w/ kit lens is available on Amazon for KD350 [Link]

A reader called Omar emailed me a very startling email about his experience with Sultan Center. Now I can’t verify if this is true or not because I don’t know Omar but the pictures look pretty legit to me. This is what he had to say:

I bought two After Eight dark chocolate bars from Sultan Center last week. I opened one and after taking my first bite I almost puked. I checked the expiry date on the sticker and it said 31/10/08. I then decided to peel that sticker only to realize that Sultan had covered up the real expiry date! The chocolate had expired on June 2008! I am heading there right now to make a big scene about this, but I doubt I will get very far.

Who prints and sticks these labels, is it Sultan Center or another company does anyone know?

Update: Omar passed by Sultan Center and it seems the labels are printed by the American supplier, this is what he had to say:

Thanks for posting this Mark. After I sent you the pictures I went to Sultan and asked to meet the manager. A pleasant Indian guy came over to talk to me. He is the floor manager (working in Sultan for 9 years). I showed him the expiry date and the real expiry date underneath. He was truly shocked and not feigning. I can usually tell when people are faking. After the initial shock set in, he got extremely apologetic, saying that he�s worked here for 9 years and never came across something like this. He agreed that this is not an honest mistake and is FRAUD!

We then went to check the rest of the stock, unfortunately it was all sold out (so sadly a few more people are gonna experience moldy chocolate at its finest). The floor manager took my details and promised that the “big” manager will call me soon.

30 mins after leaving Sultan I get a call from a very apologetic, sweet talking Lebanese guy who identified himself as The Manager. He apologized a million times, and also admitted that this was not an honest mistake. However, Sultan is not the source of the fraud. Apparently the �ministry of something� here in Kuwait insists that food products come with that Arabic sticker from the source, and should be tagged before clearing customs. So the “American Food Supplies Inc. ” which provided Sultan with the chocolate (already with the sticker) is the one to blame. They have been using that company for over 10 years and are truly shocked. To prove to me they are serious they will keep me updated of the proceedings with the American supplier. He also asked me to come back so they can compensate me for my troubles (whatever that means). I will go see him tomorrow.

I must say, I was expecting complete indifference by the management, but I am pleasantly surprised that they took the matter very seriously. If the stickers really are applied by the supplier, before they reach customs, then Sultan is not the source of the Fraud. Can anyone confirm that those stickers are in fact applied before they reach customs?

I installed Mac OS X on my MSI Wind today and its running perfectly! The installation went very smooth and everything is working fine including the wifi, webcam, bluetooth, ethernet port and sound. I really didn’t think OS X would run so well on the Wind, I love it! I am actually so happy with the Wind now I am going to be selling my Asus Eee 900. I tried installing OS X on it today also but it was running really slow so I just went ahead and installed the dreadful Windows XP. Its running much better but I prefer OS X over XP any day so thats why I am going to be sell it. I will be losing money on it since the price of it has dropped since I got it but since I got the MSI Wind for free I don’t mind. The thing is I really don’t have the need for two ultra portables in my life and the fact that the Wind is running OS X means I will always choose it over my Asus.

If anyone is interested in installing OS X on the Wind all you need to get it working right is a Dell wifi card. I purchased the Dell 1490 from eBay for $15 with shipping.

Update: My Asus Eee 900 is now listed for sale in the forum [Link]