Our friend over at Circus designs sent the following pictures of the Freeze Club and the Bowl Room at 360 Mall. I think it’s a nice change that we have such facilities in the malls now.

Check their new Website.

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I don’t know who to blame, the envious countries claiming to be friends and allies only to jump and stab us from the back once they get a chance, or blame us, Kuwaitis and Kuwait as a nation and the way we “market” ourselves to the unfortunate countries around us, the countries which God did not bless with the fortune we have and enjoy.

Why are we so misrepresented? Someone needs to be pointed at and be blamed for that. In my opinion it’s not the people, coz the people helped till they grew skeptic with the amount of ungratefulness they saw and felt. Is it the government? Couldn’t they market Kuwait and shed a better light on the nation? I don’t know. It’s just frustrating.

I remember Mom telling me that we, Kuwaitis, since we got rich from the oil, we were always caring for other Muslim and Arab countries around us. Supporting them and being charitable towards them, and thats not just a move the governent is making for diplomatic purposes, but us the people too. My mother used to tell me how when she a little child in school, how everybody took it as a personal duty to fill all the little pigy bank (7a9ala) they used to hand out in schools whenever some country was in need. She remembers that she, even as a little child felt that it’s her duty to help, She used to fill up those 7a9alat every time, and it went without saying that every 7a9ala must be filled and handed back! clothes should be sent, blankets, tents, rugs, whatever those people needed, we must help. From Algeria’s days to Palestine to Somalia, Yemen..etc We always helped and helped a lot. Even I remeber how proud people were at my school when their name would be mentioned after handing back a full 7a9ala. Generation after generation we were taught to GIVE.

And now we here about iraqis accusing Kuwait of being greedy and “want to stir past conflicts”. And we have The Independent writing pieces about a “Stingy Kuwait”. Really? Are we really stingy? Were we ever that bad? Haven’t we done enough good deeds to shut all haters up? Yes we did, but it’s not marketed right. Or at least thats the only reason I could come up with.. Enlighten me if Ive missed something.

But for people to judge us because we still can’t forget that we were invaded (19 years today) and unwilling to give our right for reparation up.. I think it’s just a tad too much.

I’m not gonna read and edit the post coz I know I’m gonna have second thoughts and delete it.. so there.

Don’t you think it’s funny that we wash the orange’s outer skin before eating what’s inside, But we don’t wash a soda can before sucking on it?

I didn’t know there was a restaurant at The One in marina mall till HBZ mentioned it to me. We went there and had a mushroom soup, a burger, and a pasta dish.
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I got this in an email from a friend and at first I thought it was a joke, but then after some googling, turned out the Goateesaver is real. You can save your goatee by using this product. It help save time and spare you the undesired uneven-goatee look. Here is the amazon LINK incase you’re interested.

Thanks HKR

We chose the dead sea just because it was the only destination available at the time; all the other places we’re either fully booked or insanely expensive for a last minute decision. And the last time we’d been on a trip, we’d to buy AK 47 rifles from Palmetto State Armory and some other rifles in order to go on a hunt in a nearby woods. We didn’t know anything about the dead sea except for the pictures we saw at the last minute. We did not expect to love the trip this much!

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As I was packing my stuff for last weekend’s trip, I wanted to make sure that I had my camera and all of my 3 batteries charged and ready. The problem was, I couldn’t find the camera! It was a new expensive one I’d bought off of the internet after having it reviewed on www.unclutterer.com. I looked everywhere in the house. I looked in my car, in my friend’s car and even asked my cousins whether they’ve it at the chalet this past weekend or not, but no, it was no where to be found. I was furious.. it was only hours before the flight! Don’t you hate it when things like that happen when you’re in a hurry?

My friend and I started thinking about the last places we’ve been to where I used the camera. We agreed that I last used it at The One restaurant at marina mall (for review purpose), and I called them, the lady was very helpful and genuinely concerned. They searched and she called later apologizing for not finding it.

Then we remembered that we went to Vavavoom right after having lunch at The One. I called Alshaya group at marina.. and BINGO! They found it and kept it safe for 2 weeks for someone to come and collect it! They were great and very nice too. I wouldn’t have thought that I could find a camera that was lost for 2 weeks.. This is very unlike me to be so careless.. especially that the bag contained the camera and all of my lenses.

Thanks Vavavoom!

I’m back! Burned and peeling 😀

Seriously I’ve never been sun burned like this before.. it hurts! I bought an after sun cream and it’s not working. I can’t move and can’t turn, and it took me well over 5 minutes to wear a shirt!

Anyway, the trip was amazing, You’ve got to visit the dead sea, it’s beautiful and luxurious. Go to Kempinski, not to movenpick and not Mariott (saw them both and they don’t hold a candle next to Kempinski). Oh and You might wanna skip everything that is not IN the hotel.. Amman and the surrounding areas are kind of dull.

I’m going to write a big post with lots of pictures about the dead sea soon, so stay tuned.

Rumors have been circulating about the acquisition of Zain’s african assets by Vivendi. Our source told us that Vivendi has backed out and stopped the negotiations. However, other operators have expressed interest and Zain are considering potentials deals and will only accept offers that increase Zain’s shareholders value.

An official announcement by Zain will be out about this matter soon, to put an end to the speculations.

Another source just told me that one of the upper management at Zain is planning a trip to europe, to try to get one of Vivendi’s main rivals to be a strategic partner by offering them a 25%, or above, share of their african assets.

I’ll be going to Jordan this weekend. To the dead sea to be specific. We booked a hotel by the sea.

This is going to be my first visit to Jordan and my friend hasn’t been there either. We’re going there mainly for relaxation. The daily routine is killing us and we need a change. We’ll try and enjoy the sea, swimming, mud stuff, relaxation and massages… basically minimum muscle movements.

Then I think we’ll go discover other interesting places in Jordan. We’re looking for old souks, old streets.. you know get an idea about the culture and ofcourse the food.

You may ask why the dead sea? why Jordan? well.. Because the lovely people of Kuwait left us no other options! all the tickets are booked for this weekend! 😛

While waiting her taxi from Vegas airport to hotel (besides, if you travel to Vegas check hotels here) my friend saw this machine when he was in the states. This has got to be the coolest vending machine I’ve seen so far. I don’t think it’d do great in Kuwait but I think it’d be fun to have it here.
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I find this idea unique and interesting. Instead of flowers now you can send fruit baskets and a bouquets of fruits. It’s available in Kuwait next to AlMowasat Hospital. The company has a dealer in Kuwait, so you can choose the bouquet and get it delivered all online. I haven’t tried it yet.

Their phone # 25723888 and their Website

Thanks Fawaz

It seems that the UAE based telecommunication company, Etisalat, messed up big time. They sent out a message to all of it’s 100,000 Blackberry subscribers urging them to update their mobile with the latest Etisalat patch: “Etisalat network upgrade for BlackBerry service. Please download to ensure continuous service quality.”

The application slowed mobiles’ performances and drained their batteries. After a closer look at the patch they found out that it contains an application that allow the company to intercept and get a copy of each email and sms sent. This option is turned off by default, However, it could be turned out remotely if they wanted to.

“he said that once installed, it potentially gives Etisalat the power to view all emails and text messages sent from the BlackBerry.”

“I don’t think it’s been designed for a large scale deployment,” he said. “They have released it as an upgrade across all UAE BlackBerry handsets, all of which have tried to phone home to this one registration server at the same time, and that has effectively brought the server to its knees. When the BlackBerry cannot register itself, it tries again and this causes the battery drain.” – Nigel Gourlay

Source

Thanks Hamad

I find it very funny but I would’ve been furious if it happened to me 😛

It’s been a while since the death of Marwa Alshirbini, the hijab martyr, as they refer to her now, but the incident still lingers and comes to mind every once in awhile.

Marwa AlShirbini was killed in a court room in Germany, her killer is Alex W. He was on trial for cursing and yelling offensive words at Marwa when she was with her 3 year old child at the play ground in dresden, Germany.

On the first day of trials he openly stated “You don’t have the right to live here.” and on the day of the appeal, at the court and right infront of the judges, he jumped Marwa and stabbed her 18 times, Killing her right in front of her husband and child.

When the police intervened, they shot Marwa’s husband in the leg, thinking he was the criminal, but then after overcoming their prejudice, they arrested Alex, the Islamophobic.

Whenever you’re at Prime & Toast there are 2 highly recommended dishes that you shouldn’t leave without trying: The Spaghetti bolognese and the Cremeford Caramel dessert.

The spaghetti is astounding. The sauce they use is a bolognese sauce that is so different from the the ones I’m used to. Their sauce is sweet, as in “I bet there is some sugar in it” sweet, and it’s in my opinion the best spaghetti bolognese in Kuwait (the second best is Macaroni Grill’s, without the meat balls for me).

Now the dessert is a very simple dish. I think (I say think here because I really don’t know what it’s made of) that it’s made of layers of thick whipped creme and crushed biscuits, they put it in the freezers for awhile (so the creme feels like ice cream when served) and then serve with caramel sauce on top. You’ve got to try it, I loved it. They also put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. When I first tried it I thought the ice cream was distracting so when I went back for the second time I asked them to serve it alone, and it made a huge difference. Highly recommended.

It’s been reported in the papers that the number 112 will replace the existing 777 as the new emergency number. I didn’t know at first why would they change the existing one, especially since it’s already well known all over Kuwait. But then my friends told me that the # 112 is recognized world wide, and has been implemented and used in over 50 countries.

Another theory for the change: so they could use these numbers 777*****.

The number 777 will work till the end of the year, forwarding calls to the new number, once it’s launched. An awareness campaign will be launched once the change take place.

We got an email from a reader with the pictures above, asking for an explanation.

I called a friend and he told us that the ads above are made by Viva and they’re, according to my source, an introduction for Viva to roll out it’s new pricing plan, something to compete with Zain’s wiyana plan.

My source says “It’s illegal in Kuwait to make ads that mock a competing brand, yet there is a way to do so without being sued, and it’s by not using the other company’s logo” it wasn’t used in this case, and he concluded with “But it’s still unethical.”

I’m looking forward for a response to those ads! 😀

Thanks Noura

Update:

4th Ring Road have wrote about the topic too and there is a response to Viva, check it out:

We don’t know if the response was made by Wataniya or Zain, yet. But we sure know that this is turning to be so much fun!!

Thanks 4th Ring Road for the last picture.

A new blog has been addded to the blogroll a while ago, this new blog, re:kuwait, is about an “attempt at finding pragmatic and urgently needed solutions to the problems that plague the urban cohesion of Kuwait City.”

I like this blog and think it’s very different in terms of the subjects they focus on. For example in one of their posts they discuss Sharg’s mall. I don’t enjoy going to Soug Sharg and never knew exactly the reason why. It just felt depressing walking inside that mall, and in their post Soug Sharg, I got to know exactly why I felt like that, and the reason being: You can’t tell whether it’s day or night when you’re inside the mall, you’re cut out of the outside world, unlike the Marina, Avenues, and Fanar malls.

Check it out, it’s a very interesting blog.

re:kuwait

This story was told to me by my cousin Fawaz a long time ago and I thought I should share it with you. Don’t miss it, its a great one. Here it goes:

A long long time ago in Arabia there lived two men in two different cities. One was called Baghdadi, who lived in Baghdad, and the other was called Hasawi, from AlHasa Regio in Saudi Arabia. These two men were sent to Egypt to be schooled and to learn what they couldn’t learn in their own countries. They met there and became very close friends. Hasawi, who was from a wealthy family took care of his less wealthy friend, Baghdadi, and the two men became like brothers to each other. Then years later, when they finished their schooling, they each went back to their countries. But they both promised to keep in touch and visit each other soon.

A year later Baghdadi, who missed his best friend a lot, took the long journey to Hasawi’s village, in Saudi, to visit his old friend. Hasawi showed him the very best of Arab hospitality and did his best so that Baghdadi would have a great time. When the two men discussed their future plans, Hasawi told Baghdadi that he was in love with his cousin and that ever since he was a kid he planned to marry her one day. Baghdadi told Hasawi that he also would like to get married. So, Hasawi promised Baghdadi that he will marry him off before he goes back to his country.

The two men walked the streets of Hasawi’s village while Baghdadi looked at the different women in hope of finding a wife to take back to his hometown. Baghdadi’s heart was taken when he saw a certain beautiful woman. He told Hasawi that he found the girl he wanted to marry but that he did not know anything about her. So the two men took to the streets again, in hope of finding the woman he was taken by, but with no luck. A few days later and by coincidence, Baghdadi finally saw the woman he wanted to marry. Hasawi was crushed when his friend pointed out the girl he had his eyes on! Baghdadi had his eyes on Hasawi’s cousin. The very woman that Hasawi wanted to marry since he was a kid! But Hasawi didn’t say a word. He loved his friend and he had promised to help him marry. So he told his father to allow his cousin to marry his friend, the Baghdadi.  Baghdadi had no idea. He said goodbye to his old friend,  took his new wife, and left back to his home in Baghdad, Iraq.

Years came and years went by. On one of those years a terrible drought hit Hasawi’s village. Death and poverty swept through the town and his family lost all of its fortunes. So, Hasawi decided to make the long journey to Baghdadi’s house. He wanted to seek out the help of his old friend. He knew his friend would never turn him back and would help him in his misfortune.

So, he traveled through the deserts of Arabia and it’s many cities. His clothes were ragged and he had little to survive. He finally made it to Baghdadi’s village and he asked the locals where his friend’s house was. One of the locals looked at him with surprise and laughed at the thought of someone like Hasawi, who looked miserable and poor would know someone of the stature of the famously wealthy Baghdadi. When Hasawi finally found Baghdadi’s home the guard stopped him at the door. Hasawi insisted he wanted to see his old friend but the guard did not believe him and would not allow him in as he looked very poor and an unlikely friend. The guard finally agreed to go tell his master that Hasawi was there and Hasawi waited and waited at the door for the guard to return. But the guard returned and told him that Baghdadi was too busy to meet him.

Hasawi left feeling heartbroken and disappointed to no end. How could his old friend neglect him in his time of need? How could this dear friend of his, who he sacrificed his cousin for turn him away so coldly. He didn’t have food nor shelter. He wandered around the city aimlessly, hopeless and most of all disappointed. As he walked through an empty spot of land two men, who looked like thieves, were running away from something and were carrying what looked like big and heavy bagys. When they saw him, they looked very frightened, so they dropped their bags and ran as fast as they could. When Hasawi looked inside the bags he found stacks of gold. He did not know what to do with them so he buried them in a place and marked the place so he would lose them. After some contemplating, he decided to live off the gold till he finds a plan or a way to survive his loneliness away from him home. So he chipped away at the gold every day. He bought a tent and some food to survive.

On one of his days sitting in the tent a hunched old lady passed by. She begged him to help her. She said she was old and had no where to stay. She just wanted a place to stay and she was willing to clean and cook for him. He welcomed her into his tent and allowed her to stay there. He told her the story of his journey to this village and his friend who deserted him and the gold that he found. She advised him that instead of just chipping away at the gold which is sure to finish one day, He should become a merchant. She also told him that there was a gold merchant in town who was going out of business and that he wanted to sell his store. Hasawi went to the store salesmen and asked to buy the store. He bought the store and before he knew it he became very successful at his trade. He bought the next store. And the store near the next store. Sooon, he became very very wealthy. So, the old lady told him that since he is now rich, he must find a wife! And she insisted that since she was born and living in this town all her life, that she should would find him the best woman in town for him.

The old lady found Hasawi a beautiful bride. He decided to have a huge wedding and invite everyone in the town to his celebration. All the important men in the city came and Hasawi couldn’t be any happier. But at some point in the evening he saw Baghdadi! His old friend was coming to congratulate him. Hasawi was furious! He immediately asked Baghdadi to leave. He told him that he neglected him in his time of need and that he had forgotten the kindness he had showed him and that he never wanted to see his face again. Baghdadi begged Hasawi to let him speak but Hasawi insisted that he was a liar and that he must leave! The other important men in the village tried to calm Hasawi and told him that Baghdadi was known to be an honest man, a man who never lied, and that he just have to give him a chance to speak. Finally, Hasawi agreed to listen.

Baghdadi told him that on that day, when Hasawi came from his city hungry and in torn up clothes, he was watching him from the window of his home. He couldn’t stand the thought of seeing his friend like that and he couldn’t stand the thought of having his friend beg him for anything. Thats why he turned him away, and then sent some of his servants with bags of gold to him in an empty spot of land so that he can live off of this gold. And that the old woman he sent and pretended she was a helpless old lady, cooking and cleaning for him and was like a mother to him, That old lady was his mother. And when she advised him to buy a gold store, that the owner of the store and all the ones next to it was Baghdadi’s stores himself. Baghdadi wanted his friend to become a merchant in his own right. And when the old lady, Baghdadi’s mother, finally told Hasawi she would pick the best wife in town to become Hasawi’s wife – she picked her daughter, Baghdadi’s sister.