Fresh & Halal… Pork?!

20 07 2008

Posted By Yousef

Khosh wallah.

Thanks Om MiMi.

Update:

It appears that this product is either fake or someone wanted to market it to the wrong people, and whoever did this is going to get in trouble coz, according to the below statement, there is an investigation going about this product.

DVLz, a reader of our blog, just commented with the following:

The ‘Pasar Fresh Pork (Air Flown)’, packed for NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd, 680 Upper Thomson Road, Singapore 787103, is not Halal-certified by Muis. Our investigations at eight NTUC outlets on 31 October 2007, immediately upon receipt of this feedback from a member of the public, revealed that the said product did not bear the Muis Halal certification mark.

Please be informed that Muis is working with the police on this matter. It was reported by Channelnewsasia on 1 November 2007 that the NTUC Fairprice had filed a police report over what it claimed as an act of mischief to tamper with the packaging of the pork product.

Source: muis.gov.sg/faqs/

Thanks DVLz.



The One With The Chinese Restaurant

18 07 2008

Posted By Yousef

My brother once told me not to try any chinese restaurants outside of Kuwait. He said that the chinese restaurants in Kuwait are very careful when cooking the dishes, they don’t want to alienate their Kuwaiti customers by cooking real chinese food, coz sometimes its too much for them to handle. My Brother basically said that in Kuwait they cook Kuwaiti friendly chinese dishes.

My brother’s favorite chinese restaurant in the world is Peacock in SAS Hotel, since Peacock is highly overrated in my opinion, I tried to take his advice with a grain of salt. I wanted to prove and make a point to myself, that there are good chinese restaurants out there, somewhere.

Today, I was out by myself, and I like to try new places when there is no one around. The reason I don’t prefer eating at new places with people with me is coz I don’t like the disappointed look and the “its all your fault” stare when the food turns out to be inedible (which often is the case). Anyway, As I was saying, I was out by myself and wanted to try a chinese restaurant, to prove a point. I entered the first restaurant I saw. Its called Chez Leung. There was no one inside besides the 2 chinese guys eating at a table near the kitchen and talking with the waitress, they were her friends, I think.

I chose a table and sat. I inspected the place for awhile, thinking to myself “this looks like a nice authentic restaurant. Look at the plants, the frames, the little plastic kitty waving, the plants again, the music… err.. the music?!” the Eagles “Hotel california” was playing from the speakers. Not so authentic. I was expecting some whiny girls singing words I don’t know. The waitress came, very friendly, took my order then went to the kitchen, all the while smiling like she’s just seen a friend. I took out my laptop, no wifi signal, returned the laptop back only to find the waiter standing next to me with my starters. The dish came out fast, definitely not a good sign. My starter was chicken on toast with sesame. It tastes bland, I couldn’t really taste the chicken, it tasted like a dessert called Samsamiya, Which I hated since I was little. My brother was half right by that now. But there was still hope, a chance for me to be right for doubting my brother. Not so long after she took my first dish, she came back with the main course, Hot & Sour chicken. It did not look very appetizing, and the mood they’re trying to set with the music is not working out well. By now George Michael’s “Careless whisper” was playing, followed by “you take my breath away”, Savag Garden’s “I knew I loved You”, Bryan Adams’ “Everything I do”. At first I was blaming the radio for playing all those songs, but after hearing them all back to back it was clear now that it wasn’t the radio playing all those songs, it was a them.. the restaurant! coz no radio would risk its reputation by playing all these sappy songs consecutively! (unless its 99.7 RKFM).

I finished eating and asked for the check. I couldn’t have been more off with the restaurant choice. The food was horrible, The place was not as authentic as I hoped for (I saw a ketchup bottle) and the music selection was… no comment.

I paid and headed to the door, A song started playing as I was stepping out the door, I couldn’t really catch it, it went something like this “If… I.. Shoould stay.. I would only… be in..”

ADDRESS



The Hijab is Targeted

14 07 2008

Posted By Yousef

I just read an interesting article on one of my favorite blogs, intlxpatr’s blog, the article is taken from BBC news and it says that a veiled Muslim woman was denied citizenship in france coz she, allegedly, practices “radical” islam.

Guys and Girls, Tell me, enlighten me please, Isn’t this story and countless other stories where we read that girls are not allowed to wear Hijabs to schools in certain european countries are prime examples of pure hatred and discrimination?

If I wear to say the N word I would’ve been called a racist, if I wear to say women belonged in the kitchen I would’ve been shunned by women and most men, if I were ever to say, God forbid, AC Milan suck and Qadsiya rules, I would’ve been assassinated by Milan fans. We’re always called out, without tolerance, always stopped mid sentence when something wrong is about to be said. Yet, we see the same self righteous people publicly displaying their hypocrisy without being called out often enough.

France, being the country that it is, which was responsible for so many constitution and has influence on most of the world’s constitutions as well, I think it the country I hate the most for being so hypocrite and racist. I googled and found that the french people are against the veil for 2 main reasons, the reasons are:

1-Wearing the veil symbolizes a woman’s submission to men.
2-women who wear the veil display their religious and community affiliation, which harms the unity.

My reply, respectively, to any person who believes in those 2 reasons:

1-Denying any woman education coz she wears a veil would make her even more submissive to men, coz she’ll end up with no education and no personal freedom to practice her faith, her choice of clothing and the school she wants to join.

2-So, by this reasoning, Unity will only be enforced by discriminating against minorities and their personal beliefs? is this some sort of an oxymoron? or just plain ignorance & stupidity?

This video say it best.

“Freedom of religion is guaranteed in France by the constitutional rights set forth in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
However, in recent years, some legislation and government actions were taken against some groups considered to be dangerous or criminal. Officials and associations fighting excesses of such groups, justified these measures by the need to have appropriate legal tools and the need to fight criminal organizations masquerading as legitimate religious groups. Critics contended that those actions unfairly targeted minority religions, jeopardized freedom of religion, and were motivated by prejudice.” - from wikipedia

Sure, yeah, now I understand their stance on the Hijab, I was so out of line with this post, coz you see.. France is a big nation that should put it’s national security and it’s people’s safety first, and those little school girls wearing the Hijab can be very dangerous! don’t be deceived by the cute faces, those girls are a threat to their national security! especially with their little scarfs on! they can smuggle weapons of mass destruction and nobody would be able to tell! You don’t want to happen, now do you!?



Kuwaitis Working Space

11 07 2008

Posted By Mishary.

What can i say more ? :P



Swisscom’s 3G iPhone

9 07 2008

Posted By Yousef

I received an email today from Swisscom telling me the 3G iPhone is going to be released the day after tomorrow. I read their page and I think it says that I can’t buy one without subscribing with their service. How am I supposed to buy this thing without letting them charge my visa for 12 or 24 months? I know there must be a way but at the moment I just don’t get the whole thing. Read their subscription’s details HERE.

This is going to be my first ever iPhone. :D

Swisscom.



Guilty Pleasure

9 07 2008

Posted By Yousef

It’s gone. Finished. Yet I don’t feel so guilty.

I like how sometimes its “I don’t need this piece of chocolate, I can totally live without chocolates” and some other times “I want chocolates. Any kind. Now.

I don’t care much for desserts. Normally I would just buy chocolate bars from the supermarket and leave them. My passion lies in the savory dishes. But when I have those very few and far between cravings for dessert, mainly chocolates, I stop paying attention to quantities. Bad habbit, I’m aware. Oh well.

PS this chocolate brand is amazing.



Speaking Of Sleeplessness

2 07 2008

Posted By Yousef

Am I the only one who still listens to the Aladdin soundtrack? I especially enjoy it when I can’t sleep, I just put it on and try to sleep and it usually works.. I love this soundtrack. To date I think it hasn’t lost it’s touch and is still fresh.

Speaking of sleeplessness.. Don’t you hate people who can’t sleep while the TV is on? I have a friend who cannot sleep with the TV or ANYTHING else on. Let me explain further more.. This friend of mine cannot sleep if the receiver displays the time, the bathroom-boiler’s light is on, the space under the door is letting light in, the mobile’s tiny light is blinking or the window’s shutter is not fully shut. Now, in all honesty, don’t you think people, like my friend, should get a training course on how to properly use their eyelids? :P



The One With The Hydrangea Flowers

28 06 2008

Posted By Yousef

Every year Mom goes to the botanic shop near us and buys some more hydrangea plants to replace the old and dying ones. Sometimes she buys 2 and sometimes more, depending on how bad/good last year’s plants are holding up. When I’m here when and we go to the botanic, I always try my best to steer her away from buying the same flowers, I try and try AND try! but to no avail. I don’t know what is it with these flowers and I don’t know why all the other gardens around us have this same flowers. these and the lavender. Once the mission to buy a different plant this year failed (failed miserably. We bought 3 new hydrangeas!) I insisted on buying these little dividers/partitions just so I would feel like I made a tiny difference this time :P


Read the rest of this entry »



The One With The Hospital Visits

26 06 2008

Posted By Yousef

Going to the hospital all through last week in this country made me realize how lucky we are in Kuwait. We’re beyond lucky, We’re blessed in Kuwait and we don’t even know it.

We had to go to hospitals many times during last week and every hospital, doctor or waiting room we’ve seen (and smelt) was an eye opener to us all. Not only they’re understaffed, overcrowded, inefficient, stupid and retarded, but they also suffer from a serious lack of TIME-awarness! they don’t give a damn about the time the patients spend waiting inline. I mean.. we were in a hurry to get an injection, almost a routine injection, yet we had to wait inline for 3 hours just to get this done. 3 hours for a simple injection. Had the same thing happened in Kuwait we would’ve been in and out of the hospital in 10 minutes.

The other hospital we’ve been to was something else, the doctor whom my brother waited so long to see was an english illiterate doctor. She knew nothing about english, english was an alien language to her. She couldn’t treat a goat if her life depended on it! let a lone a human being! which made my brother get up and leave, without getting the proper med care he waited hours for.

You can’t go and get treated for a flu, cold, fever, broken arm, broken neck without waiting inline for hours. and I literally means HOURS.

We’re very lucky in Kuwait. Very. I’m not saying there is no room for improvement, I’m just saying that every once in awhile we need to stop and realize how fortunate we really are.



Wallet + Washing Machine = DOH!

24 06 2008

Posted By Yousef

I forgot the wallet in one of my pant’s 6 pockets and threw the pant in the laundry basket. :D After searching everywhere, we finally found the wallet at the bottom of the washing machine soaking wet and soapy. The money didn’t take much time in the sun to dry up.. I wish I could say the same thing about my wallet.