I went for the first time yesterday and I loved it. It has this beautiful Kuwaiti energy all around it and unlike any of the other exhibitions I attended, all of the attending people are actually happy to be there. The attendants were from all age groups, old men and women on wheelchairs and walking sticks, and girls all in their best Eid attires.

The booths were all nicely set. Lots of creative ideas, and some not so creative ones. Lots of maids doing their backstage work.. well don’t get me wrong, lots and lots of booths were run by their Kuwaiti owners, but some of them were a joke, but they were little and far in between.

I’m proud of them. I couldn’t take many pictures coz there were lots of people on thursday and it was hard to take pictures.

I liked the idea to have someone exhibit old handcrafts and how they used to make them.

I bought from these guys a Kuwaiti version of the Monopoly board game, it’s called “AlDallal” and it’s for KD5.

Corn Dog. I think these guys would rock at any kids event, like a birthday or a party of some sort. Easy to eat and lots of Kids would love it.

^Some Contrast on Corn Dogs

Chaw Chaw was there too

This booth had the loveliest and funniest quotes and stills from Kuwaiti plays, all made into nice portraits for the wall. And the people working their were nice and were ok with me taking pictures.

Kuwaiti Green Peace Organizaiton. AKA. MSK.

A great magician! He did some tricks for me and I recommend having him as an entertainer for your parties. Beware though, he does not perform for kids coz he says kids won’t get his tricks and he has grown ups as his target audience. Ivan the magician 99798818.

Bubbles diving center. My friends. They’re great! I got 3 licenses so far with them and to make long story short, They’re THE best diving center in Kuwait. Phone # 24835228 or Mobile # 99989020.

Oishi Sushi. Remember Sushi KWT? Well they revamped their brand and their look and they’re openning soon in a nice new place. Stay tuned for a detailed post dedicated to Oishi Sushi.

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^Click for a bigger view

Did you Major in Marketing? Are you working in a Marketing department? Ok, do you think you’re job requires skills and sometimes you find it hard to get the potential customer to memorize your brand?

Then click on the article circled above (dated April 16 1912) and try to put yourselves in this Man’s shoes! He is begging the readers, ALL readers, to pay attention to the brand name, ANY brand name! I mean this guy must have had a very tough job trying to shove the concept of branding down America’s throat.

So yeah, marketing people, you should think twice before asking for a raise again

OT: Don’t you think it’s weird to include that article on the front page next to Titanic’s news? It looks too unimportant an article to be on that particular front page, doesn’t it?

If you want to read the full page (huge and will take time to load) Click Here

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1001Nights is a Kuwait blogger. She’s one of the first and best authors in the Kuwaiti blogosphere. She has written a new piece and she’s gonna share it for the first time ever with you guys on our blog!

So here is it and make sure to leave your comments and feedback.

Grief, Beauty, and Samri

She said she was in the mood for samri, and that it was strange for someone in her circumstance to be in the mood for samri. I sighed and, as I did, I took in her smell; she had clearly been exposed to some bukhoor before coming. The café, right before the asr prayer, was deserted; the waiters looked uninterested, the food on display near the counter looked like it had been sitting there for a long while, and it was dim and getting dimmer as the sun was no longer in its full glory. Her black veil and black abat, the eye liner that leaked down her cheek right by her nose, her voice, the tone of it, everything in that café, everything in our meeting was so full of gloom. And she said she was full of gloom too and that it was very strange. I asked her what was strange. She said it was strange that she was in the mood for samri. I asked her if she wanted to dance. I told her to cover her face with the abat as if it were a thob, I told her to disregard the waiters, they wouldn’t mind, I told her I’d sing for her and use the table as my ‘taar if only she wanted to dance. She chuckled and said that dancing samri wears her out when no one was watching. She said that she would tire dancing with few viewers and thrive when dancing in front of masses – dancing samri as well as she did was not just about dancing; it was an art, it was the epitome of womanliness, it was the pride of her country, it was a performance. I was just glad she chuckled. But soon after I was a little sad. I didn’t want to ask her if I weren’t enough, if my watching her wasn’t enough. But I did ask her, impulsively. The question rolled off my tongue before I had a chance to remind myself that this meeting wasn’t about me. But the words left my mouth and hung still in the air while she looked at me blankly. She smiled and said nothing. So I said I was just joking. And she stayed quiet. So I thought this would be her exit. She would leave soon if I didn’t say anything. So I told her she smelled great. I told her that despite the heaviness in the air and the sadness in this deserted place and despite the grief that she was feeling, her smelling so great made me feel like I was sitting at a wedding. I told her I could relish in this smell forever and never bore of it. And she said she was wearing her mother’s abat. Since she had died the day before yesterday she hadn’t taken it off. She wore it all day around the house and during the a’aza and when she went to bed she bunched it up near her pillow and hugged it and smelled it and wrapped herself in it until she was too weary to weep anymore and finally slept with her face in it. And after she told me this she sighed. She sighed and if I could I would have lifted her mother out of her grave and rested my own head there instead. Because she sighed. And because I knew that the dimple nestled in the middle of her chin didn’t quiver because she was about to burst into laughter. And because I knew that the red in her cheeks wasn’t there because she was blushing. And I knew that her eyes weren’t glistening because I had paid her a complement. I knew all of this and the weight of it struck me. And I knew too that men don’t cry. And I knew men definitely shouldn’t cry when their women need them. But I heard the quiver in her voice, the leftover dread beneath the soft tone, the hurried breathing, and I wanted to cry too. I wanted to weep like a child. But men don’t cry, I told myself and I could sense my eyes start to burn and instinctively I tried, really tried, to remember something funny like my friends on the playstation, or my nephew’s mispronunciation of the word soup in Arabic – “shairuba”- or even something she usually says with a lisp. She doesn’t have a lisp but there’s that one word she always says with a lisp. I never once corrected her. It was too amusing – not because I wanted to poke fun at her but because, for some reason, I found those little idiosyncrasies of hers so entrancing, so endearing, so incredibly captivating, that I wouldn’t dare try to change them. I got up and headed for the counter before she could notice my eyes welling up. I walked away from her as I asked her if she wanted anything. She said her stomach hurt all the time and that she hadn’t eaten because of the nausea, the nausea, she said, it wouldn’t go away. I bought myself a bottle of water and bought her a cheesecake. Chocolate. She liked everything chocolate. I cut a bite’s worth with my fork and took it to her mouth and she backed into her seat and refused to take it. I asked her how she would be so unkind as to refuse me like that. But I had lost her already. She was now gazing at something at the corner of that coffin-café without really looking at anything. Glassy eyes thinking of somewhere else, someone else, a memory of her mother that she wouldn’t share with me, a loss I couldn’t undo, a pain I couldn’t alleviate. She started shuffling her abat around her and I panicked again because I thought she was going to leave. I thought of something to say to keep her a little longer. I couldn’t think of anything so I just said gi’day. She said salat il asr was coming up soon and she wanted to be home before the athan sounded off so she could get down to the a’aza on time. I looked at my shoes and felt like I did when I was six years old and my mom said she was traveling and leaving us with my grandma. She turned away from me and headed towards the door, silky blackness trailing behind her, the cape of a disheartened queen, her natural sway, unexaggerated and full of both humble subtlety and unmistakable femininity. And more than anything I just wished I could watch her dancing samri.

By 1001Nights

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My friend was at harrods yesterday and he took the picture above. It is of apples with heart shaped birthmarks on them for Valentines.

Harrods have commissioned farmers in france to grow these specially customized apples to bear heart shaped imprints on them. The apples will be sold for ₤3 each, and all the proceeds will be donated to a children hospital.

Are you wondering how did they do it? Are you thinking genetic studies and huge amount of money spent? I was thinking the same thing, but I was way off, coz all they did was, the french farmers that is, they placed a heart shaped sticker on the apples during cultivation.

Thanks M7

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It was announced that Avatar is now the top grossing movie of all time, right? Well it isn’t.

The above list is of the real top grossing movies of all time. Why is it different? Because it takes the inflation factor into account and re-stacks the the movies according to that. [interesting link]

Although Avatar is not updated into the list yet, it was reported that it just passed Titanic, and you can clearly see where Titanic rank on the list above. So yeah, it’s got a long way to go before it topples Gone with the Wind; the real top grossing movie of all time.

Full List

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There is this guy who is so obsessed with Nicolas Cage to the point that he started a blog and is photoshopping Cage’s face onto everyone else’s. The blogger is committed to his project and he believes that his blog is “Founded on the belief that everything in life would be better with a little more Nic Cage, the most unique and versatile actor of his generation.”

The blogger explained his love for Nicolas Cage:
“It began when it was brought to my attention that I was ‘obsessed’ with Nic Cage, meaning that I brought him up in conversation nearly everyday in our carpool. I think he’s a fascinating and unique actor, even when he’s in big budget films that people don’t necessarily deem ‘good.’ The great thing about Nic Cage is that, like in his films, no matter ‘who he is,’ he’s still essentially Nic Cage.”

Nicolas Cage was told about this blogger and the project. Cage’s comment:
“I think it’s genius and I am deeply honored.”

Check out Nic Cage as Everyone

Source

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New blog aggregator in town. Bloggers add your blogs & readers bookmark Botamba!

Nice name by the way (Botamba means ‘fat person’. It can be used for both men and women) very Kuwaiti.

First seen on Blog37 & Frankom.

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I just read this interesting story about potato chips. Now, let’s see… Back in 1853, a chef named George Crum was working at a resort in New York and He served french fries on that restaurant. The french fries were somewhat new to the scene then, it was popular in France since the early 1700’s but was brought to America by Thomas Jefferson in the late 1700’s coz he was appointed as an ambassador to France then. Anyway.

The chef on one of those nights had a customer ordering french fries only to return them once they arrived to his table, claiming the fries were too thick for his taste. The chef did another batch of fries, thinner this time, but then again the customer wasn’t satisfied with the second batch either. The chef was furious and wanted to teach that customer a lesson, so he made a special super thin and crispy fries so the customer won’t be able to handle them with a fork. The chef’s revenge plan did not work the way he intended, the customer was extremely happy with the crispy paper-thin fries. Other customers who saw that dish started ordering the new kind of potato chips too. The new thin potato chips soon appeared on the restaurant’s menu as house specialty.

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While we all were celebrating new year (I wouldn’t call me and 5 other friends watching tv a celebration.. but whatever) my cousin was in Makkah for Omrah. He happened to be in the right place at the right time to witness this twice a year ritual of cleaning the Kaabah.

He said the place was swarming with guards and all kind of people turned up for the event. Look at all the people with their cameras and mobiles up!

Thanks 7antoosh

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When I first heard about the idea of a modern Kuwaiti cafe I remember thinking “why would I go to a starbucks wannabe and have Kuwaiti milk at an outing?” That was harsh, I know, but that was how I felt. But then after trying their Cardamom & Saffron Milk at work, that thought evaporated. Having that Kuwaiti milk in a paper cup at work cozied up the place. I totally changed my mind about the place! I think it’s an amazing idea and I wish them the best of luck.

The current branch is located right behind Gulf Bank’s head office. And I was just told that Haleeb w Hail, the new modern “Kuwaiti” cafe is opening up another branch at the Avenues.

Thanks Om Hamoody

Picture

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