SOME contrast

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

Posted By Yousef

Spend as much time as you like trying to look at different faces and places, but the sooner you realized the better that you can never escape the gulfies (khalejeyeen) and their influence.

Posted By Yousef

I saw this Automated Pizza Machine (APM?) the other day and thought its really a good and practical idea. You can select the kind of pizza you want then insert the money and in 4 minutes you’ll receive your order. The machine was attached to a Pizzeria restaurant and although the restaurant was closed at the time I passed by, it did not stop serving customers.

How come this machine is not in every corner in Kuwait yet?

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!?

Posted By Yousef

I happened to be in Geneve today and happened to remember that I wanted to take a look at the new iPhone which incidently was released today and I, most probably, would’ve taken it to the cashier and paid for it immediately, no matter how pricey the Les offres d’abonnement (subscription plans) were.

I entered the shop and went to the machine to take a number to wait inline, there weren’t much people in there and that was no surprise, coz the french and technology do not mix, its like mixing chocolate with cheese or socks with slippers or boxers with dishdashas (the latter can be possible at times). The machine had a piece of paper on it, and in big letters I saw the word iPhone. I managed to understand half of it and I learned that I should not take a piece of paper and wait inline, instead I should go directly to the iPhone employee. I looked around and sure enough there was a lady with many iPhone brochures in her hand hanging near the iPhone stand talking to some guy. I went to her and asked her if she spoke english and she did “Just a Littol.” She asked if i’m interested in buying one and I said yes, she then handed me a piece of paper to write my name down along with my number and address. I wished I haven’t asked her why, I wish I haven’t already saw the iPhone and played with it and saw it’s back and asked for the white version. She told me “we will put you in a list and then we will call you when we have more iPhones.” Again I wish I haven’t asked about the the waiting list either.. “over 530 people in the waiting list. just for this shop. other shops may have less people in the waiting list” she said, “maybe you wait for 1 month to buy the iPhone,” she concluded. On my way out, as i passed by the number-giving machine, I realized that the paper i read earlier is there to let us know that the iPhone is SOLD OUT and that if we want to put our names in the waiting list we shouldn’t take a number, instead go directly and talk to the iPhone lady.. (fe6een fe6een!)

And thats how my wish of iny a7ir Mishary and Hamad went down the drain. Just like that.

Appleinsider has a thread going on about how it sold out all through switzerland, and maybe even throughout europe.

All I ended up getting was this piece of information: 519 SFR (134KD) for the 8GB and 619 SFR (159KD) for the 16GB. It’s a 2 years plan but you can always throw the simcard away and pay nothing more than the price I just provided. And one more thing, the 3G iPhone Feels/looks Good.

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.

Swisscom.

Posted By Mishary.

i like these gadgets! Since we’re in the summer and vacation season and most of us are travailing out side the country i think this will help you a lot!

It’s a highly portable solution for those of us who are often only running building to transport - or just need to make it to the nearest shelter/coffee shop/happy hour with appearance intact.

Posted By Yousef

When I first discovered foret noir, or black forest, the cake (duh), I was not so fond of it. What is there to like anyway? it is supposed to be some kind of a chocolate cake that doesn’t taste quite like chocolate, it has this sour syrup that everybody on this earth hates with a vengeance, and its covered with this thin layer of cheap whipping cream (the ones I tried are cheap) then covered again with something that is supposed to look and taste like chocolate flakes. It is hatable. Almuhaissin, I think, is one of the main reasons why I’ve always hated the black forest, the other reason being the egyptian movies and the way they pronounce it’s name; belack foorest.

Anyway. I discovered this AMAZING cafe (actually, I didn’t discover anything. Mom took me to this cafe 2 years ago and made me try their foret noir) their foret noir is nothing like almuhaissin’s! its nothing like any other black forest i have ever tasted. First of all they got it right and won major points for cutting that sour syrup out of the recipe, then they scored even more points for including a chocolate paste (is it called paste? its a layer of melted chocolate) that works perfectly with the cake, very subtly sweet, it adds this whole other dimension to the otherwise boring cake and it kind of redefines the cake. Then there is the award winning whipped cream layer which takes it to a new level.

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Posted By Yousef

Mont Salève (1380m) is in france right next to the swiss borders. Its one of the nearest mountains to geneva and once you’re up there, you’ll have a panoramic view of geneva and all the cities next to it. I think I can see all the way to lausanne (I think Montreux is blocked by the Mountains near Evian).

You can go up there either by using the Telepherique (Cable car) or by car. I prefer using the car, gives a sense of adventure (I’m afraid of heights). We went there last week, by car ofcourse, my brother was in the driver’s seats, driving the manual car (which makes our heads go back and fourth with every gear shift!). The trip took less than 15 minutes. There is a little cafe on top (many cafes) which overlooks the whole thing and just a few meters away from the cafe there is this flying-edge where (crazy people, as mom would refer to them, elmeyaneen) jump off and fly with their parachutes.

This is the stadium where some of the UEFA games were held.

The giant football hovering over geneva’s skies.

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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

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