We have reviewed DHL EasyShop back back in 2008 when it was called DHL @ Home Service. Back then it was different. There was no tracking system and no website to go with the service. The prices they charged were a joke and their packages get stuck in customs every single time.

Now to the current rebranded forwarding service, DHL EasyShop. I read about it in more than a blog and you can notice that people are just frustrated with Aramex and are reaching for something else, not sure what aramex did to break the camels back, but I welcome change if there is something new and better. I consider the rebranded DHL service new because it took what was potentially a great forwarding service and actually made it a great service. So many things has changed and it’s mostly for the better.

I ordered 5 packages and had them sent to DHL, all 5 were light; 3 below 0.5KG and 2 above. This is what I have to say about the service:

Pros:

1-The tracking system is great. Just great. Very detailed. I had it connected to my mobile so that every update gets pushed to the iPhone and it worked perfectly.

2-The pickup place doesn’t close till 12am which is very convenient for those of you, who like myself, have to work till after 4pm.

3-The shipping takes exactly 4 days. I had 5 packages, each shipped separately with a different tracking number, and all 5 of them took 4 days to arrive.

4-The price I paid for the 5 packages was very reasonable. I paid KD22.5.

Cons:

1-They don’t deliver.

2-They found only 2 out of the 5 packages at first, and I had to look for and provide all the tracking numbers for all of the 5 packages in order to find them.

I find this experience with dhl enough to make me switch.

Related Posts:

Not another homemade cupcake you might say. Well let me tell you something.. some of those home based bakeries are great! and I don’t want you guys to miss out on them. So far, the home based places that I have reviewed got amazing response from my family and friends, and this one won’t be any different.. inshallah.

Velvet Cup is a cupcake business that is home based. We received the cupcakes and they were all in a very distinguishable deep-red shade. The color stood out and made for great pictures.

I tried my first after hearing my friend enjoying his. I gotta say that it was really really good. I mean, all I’m asking is for in a cupcake is for the cake to be moist, with balanced sweetness and smooth, and I got it all in this one.

I loved how fresh it was, the cake itself, it was very soft and smelled great. The frosting was to die for! Absolutely and dangerously delicious the frosting was. I had the same reaction with sugar and spice’s frosting. You know, sweet and smooth and just goes well with the cake itself, it compliments it, so that there is no overkill with the sweetness. I appreciated that.

Scrumptious!

Bottom line: This place is good. Presentation wise and taste wise they got it all together.

Definitely recommended!

To order call: 973 44 5 44

I should’ve asked about the price but I forgot. will update soon.

Related Posts:

I told you one time about Applebee’s and their Cowboy BBQ Sirloin Fajitas. I just went to their Mishref branch and had the same order again. I asked the waitress to make sure the fajita is cooked to medium, and again I was surprised at how good it is (we’re talking about Applebee’s here, so when I say good, I mean by their standards). This fajita is juicy and tender when it’s medium. I like it.

I had lunch at the Noodle House recently to try out their new addition to the menu. They added Green Chicken Curry, a dish I used to worship back in Dubai. Unfortunately it was way below my expectations.. it was too spicey (take into consideration that I’m a spicey food lover myself) I couldn’t enjoy the food because of how hot it was, and the chicken was a bit on the stinky side, and the curry itself was too concentrated and thick. I hope they get their act together soon.

Related Posts:

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’m buying this cool stapler that got no staples in it. Well I received it today and I’m gonna show you exactly how it works and whether it can replace regular staplers or not!

^The back of the box

Looked pretty simple so I unpacked it and used it right away.

It need more pressure to work than the usual stapler.

Virdict:

Good because: It works. It’s little, neat, it leaves no waste behind, and the best thing is, you don’t have to worry if you ran out of staples.

Bad because: It can staple only up to 4 papers. Even though the papers were firmly bound together, I wouldn’t use it for important work-related papers. I would use it however for personal papers.

LINK

Related Posts:

One of our friends brought a couple of dozens of these Mini Fondue Cakes to the dewaniya yestreday. The cakes are little and almost a bite size. I thought they were reaally good, they were a smash actually, I ate atleast 6 pieces.

Nothing too special about them except they had this quality to them where you can’t stop picking one after the other. The little cakes had soft texture, as if they were underbaked, and the chocolate inside remained soft and melted even though they were cold.

I think this Home based business needs more exposure coz I know many of you will end up loving these mini fondue cakes.

KD2.5 for the dozen, and KD2 for delivery. Contact # 94011612

Thanks Ban1

^I didn’t have my camera with me, I mean they looked a bit better and more presentable than the picture above.

Related Posts:

Zain’s Marketing Department have sent us their new Zain MiFi device, which is not yet released in the market. Let’s start by telling you what it is first: The MiFi in a nutshell is a mobile router. And it’s size is almost exactly like the Blackberry curve size.

We have put it through tests for 3 days now, and we have the results. But before talking about its functions and all, we’d like to point out that this thing is elegant! when we held it it looked like a women’s fancy compact makeup; Storage is easy with this thing. Its a mobile router that you can charge and then use wirelessly.

Whats in the box:

• MiFi device.
• USB cable.
• MiFi Battery.
• Charger.
• Manual.

Device specs:

• Uses wireless 802.11 b/g.
• Maximum of 5 WiFi enabled devices.
• Up to 16 GB microSD card slot support.
• Battery life is around 5 hours.

Speed test:

I got two sim cards with different connection speed the first one was 7.2 Mb/s and the second was the 21.6 Mb/s. I knew the MiFi’s limitation was up to 7.2 Mb/s but I wanted to give it a try and know it’s real limits and see the results for myself. I’m glad that I did.

First I used it with my 7.2 mbps sim card.

The Download speed average was 1.37 Mb/s, and the Upload speed was 0.08 Mb/s.

• MP3 File (3 MB): Downloaded in 30 seconds.
• Video Clip (35 MB): Downloaded in approx. 3 minutes.
• Movie (800 MB): Downloaded in approx. 78 minutes.

Then I used it with my other card, the 21.6 mbps.

The Download speed was 2.44 Mb/s and the upload speed was 0.3 Mb/s.

• MP3 File (3 MB): Downloaded in 17 seconds.
• Video Clip (35 MB): Downloaded in 2 minutes.
• Movie (800 MB): Downloaded in 44 minutes.

Conclusion:

You’ve seen the comparison and how the speed differed. It was explicitly mentioned that the device supports up to 7.2 Mbps, but when I used my 21Mbps card, the speed increased by almost a 100% Which could be interpreted as both good and bad.

Good: because I was able to get more out of the Mifi by using my 21Mbps.

Bad: because if I use my 21Mbps card I would want to get the best out of it’s speed, and in this case I wasn’t. You won’t face this little dilemma if you’re using the 7.2Mbps.

The device is very stylish and small. No wires are needed when you use it, just insert the sim card and it’ll connect to the internet and provide internet for up to 5 laptops. Its very mobile and would take no space at all while packing, actually it would fit right into your pocket. You can charge it and it’ll last for 5 hours, and if the battery runs out you can connect it through the USB wire to your laptop and it’ll start charging.

Very good for those who go camping and chalets. It does what it’s made for and it does it awesomely.

It’ll be released soon in Kuwait. The price isn’t set yet, but we were told it’ll be around KD80.

Related Posts:

We were recommended this cafe by a couple of people, we were told that it’s an old classic cafe near hotel le maurice, and that it serves one of the best hot chocolates in Paris. We got there and it was crowded, the tables were mostly full, and the place is huge inside, so yeah it was crowded. We ordered a club sandwich because we were starving, a tuna club sandwich

^Very good.

Then ordered the hot chocolate. It was mentioned in the menu that their hot chocolate is their specialty.

Great great hot chocolate. We loved it It was heavy and thick (yes7an), and they offered whipped cream on the side to lighten it up if it was dark for your taste. It was so worth it and if you’re ever there you’ve got to try it out.

Beware though of what they claim to be their best cake. It’s called Mont Blanc, we had one, and it was one of the worst cakes/cupcakes/mutant-evil-chocolate-covered-poison I have eaten in a loong time. It plainly sucked and made my lips tremble because of it’s sudden flavor burst (Daggah). Although my taste buds were commiting suicides by the time I was finished with my first and last bite, I was able to tell that it contained Meringues, honey and chocolate. I’m not an anti meringues person, I’m anti honey though, but this cake just took the worst out of it’s ingredients and mutated into something awful.

Go for the hot chocolate, skip this cake.

Related Posts:

We were invited to Fondue restaurant today, and we went with a bunch of friends. We were asked to try out the dishes and give out honest opinions about the place. We had so many things to eat, and ended up with lots of pictures and a detailed review for you guys

The restaurant is in front of AlSalhiya complex. I entered the restaurant, and liked what I saw. The place was very nicely decorated. Great colors and seating areas. There were still 2 or 3 workers in there, putting some final touches here and there. I didn’t mind them. I took a long time just observing the interiors and the colors, it gave an impression of a casual yet chic modern french restaurant. The attention to details and the ideas for the seating areas were brilliant.

They’re going to have outdoor tables as well.

^how ’bout this table, huh? we liked the idea.

The menu was presented and I started to go through it. Lots of dishes got my attention, and I told one of my friends that there are way too many things that sound good to choose from, and he whispered “He prepared a set menu for us, you won’t be choosing anything, so just look at them and put the menu back.” That was a relief, coz I wouldn’t have known what to order.

Then food started to come in.

The Starters:

A Greek Salad, Caesar Salad, Fries (2 different types of fries: One topped with cheese, chicken cream and mushroom sauce. And the other one was topped with cheese and bolognese sauce). Fried Risotto and Mushrooms.

^ Greek Potato Salad

^Both salads had the dressings on the side. I know Mom would love this coz she, more often than not, hates dressings, unless they’re light.

The Caeser Salad, which isn’t you average caesar salad (they played with the dressing’s recipe a bit and named it Marc Anthony’s caesr salad) had bacon, croutons, parmesan cheese, and the dressing on the side.

^What you see in here is grilled shrimps. Tasted very good and tender.

The Greek Salad kinda stole the Caesar’s moment. I didn’t expect to like it, actually I didn’t expect to like the salads in general (not a big fan of salads) but it tasted very good. The dressing with the weirdly shaped fried potatos on top were a good touch.

^Breaded Mushrooms & Cheese.

^fried Risotto on the right

^Now this dish is amazing. As I mentioned earlier on, there 2 kinds of fries, one topped with bolognese sauce and cheese and the other with chicken, mushooms and cream (there is another kind topped with pepperoni and tomato sauce but we didn’t try that). The chicken topped fries was my favorite. It had the prefect amount of everything. The cream with the fries came along very well.

The main dish:

Each fondue order comes with bread and pickles and your choice of 3 other sides. Beef, Chicken and Seafood are all available and come in 3 different kinds. For example if you order the seafood side with you fondue, you’re getting calamari, shrimps and fish. There is also a vegetarian order as well.

^mini meatballs

^Chicken

^Another kind of chicken

^Pesto Fondue

All the Fondue sauces are cheese based, and you get different flavors to choose from. We got the Pepperoni and tomato sauce (which tasted like the tomato base they use in pizzas), a Pesto sauce, and a mushroom sauce. There are alos many other sauces, I think 7 different ones, including what potentially could be my favorite; The original cheese sauce.

The dessert:

Mini cheese cakes. comes with 4 different sauces as well. It’s all about the dipping in this restaurant. Very good cheese cakes and the white sauce won big time. It went well with all the cheesecakes, very versatile.

^ This is their chocolate pudding. I don’t know why they’re calling it chocolate pudding, I hope I misheard the word pudding, coz this is definitely not a chocolate pudding. It’s a chocolate fondant. The best chocolate fondant in Kuwait. Period.

^Ice cream on a biscuit and chocolate sauce with butterscotch syrup.

My brother couldn’t stop raving about their expresso.

^ Tea fans are going to like this picture.

The food was extremely enjoyable and you could tell they paid attention creating the recipes.

I sat with the owner and he told me that he got the idea while watching a TV program about hotels and food. He said that he’s a food lover, he cooks and has created many of the sauces in this restaurant. Back in February when he first started working on this idea of a Fondue restaurant, he sat with a part time chef and came up with the recipes. He wanted to create something other than the usual Fondue, He thinks Kuwait wouldn’t be too acceptive of a regular cheese Fondue, and would want something interesting.

I couldn’t let him go on before stopping him and defending the original cheese fondue. I love it. I have tried it in Gruyere (The Vatican of Cheese Fondues of the world) and told him that how could anyone not love the cheese fondue. He convinced me that making a restaurant all about cheese is not something that will work out in Kuwait. But then again he assured me that the cheese fondue will be served, and is on the menu. He also said that he himself is a fan of the original fondue, and would want other cheese fondue-lovers come to the restaurant and get a taste of what started it all.

Keeping the original cheese Fondue intact, and available on the menu, he went and created new interesting mixes of cheese based sauces. The ones we tried were all of their new creations. They were masterfully done.

The menu had many other dishes besides the fondue, like sandwiches, burgers, and pastas.

We appreciated their approach and how at the end they were telling us that they don’t want to hear the good things we had to say, they were more interested to hear what’s bad. The things we didn’t like is what they wanted to hear. I liked that! A good start.

I mentioned little things that I didn’t like, like the risotto needed to be more solid coz it was falling apart as we were picking them, and they needed more salt as well. The meatballs needed more time in the pan. Nothing major. (I hate gushing over a restaurant in a review but there was nothing wrong with the place)

The verdict?

Great food and a brilliant interiors. This restaurant could easily be the IT place in no time.

FONDUE is in front of AlSalhiya complex, right next to Fauchon. The opening is on wednesday, the day after tomorrow.

To reserve a table call: 22996424 they’re open from 1pm to 11pm

Related Posts:

Hotpot is a newly launched home based business specializing in chocolate puddings. We received a package from the nice people at “Hotpot” and they wanted us to review it for them.

The package arrived looking unique, boxed in what looked like a small pizzabox and nicely wrapped, as the picture show above. Looked very nice. And the attention to little things.. I mean I don’t know much about wrapping, but this looked nice and it felt like a present. Silly, but I liked how it was presented.

There were four chocolate puddings in mini porcelain pots in the box, and they smelled real good. I went through the process of taking the photos as quickly as I could and then delved into it.

The verdict?

Absolutely delicious! The chocolate melted when I put them in the microwave (less than 30 seconds) and smelled even better. The layer underneath tastes like biscuit/cirilac which is something I totally love. There was some little pieces of nuts, I think they were walnuts, but they were unnoticeable, which in my case was relief. I don’t like walnuts. The only thing missing was nice scoop of vanilla icecream.

They’re great and the porcelain pots are a very nice touch.

I would definitely be ordering some more hotpots. You should try it if you haven’t done so already.

The Sizes and Price:
have 2 sizes :

Big Box: A Big bowl enough for 12-14 person (12 KD)

Small Box: 4 small bowls, like the ones we got, enough for 4 person (5 KD)

They deliver through out the week except for fridays, and order pickups are ok too.

Their phone # 600 23 030

HOTPOT

Related Posts:

Earlier tonight I was invited to see the new Michael Moore movie, Capitalism: A love story. First and foremost I’d like to say that KNCC putting an effort to attract people from the Kuwaiti blogging community shows forward thinking and I’m glad and grateful that I was invited. I think that seeing such a prominent company tap into the blogging community is a testament to the blogging movement in Kuwait as a whole.

Ok. The Movie. If you’ve never seen Michael Moore’s documentaries in the past you may assume that this is just another boring documentary dealing with facts, figures, numbers, historical events… yeah so basically you’d think it’d be a snooze fest. While these factors were there, they were used in a way that made this documentary far from boring. The commentary in the background was full of wit, humor and sarcasm in pointing out the tragic ironies caused by the system. A system that is accused by the movie of causing the exploitation of the poor while the rich just get richer. Let me assure you, Michael Moore is no fan of capitalism in fact this whole movie strikes me as a propaganda campaign against the negative side effects of Capitalism.

I’m not gonna ruin it for you, overall it’s an enjoyable movie and it does give you something to think about, however, its useful to know that it represents a certain view point and is far from being objective.

Related Posts: