Laughing Gas in Kuwait

My Mom just told me that her dentist told her they’ve ordered laughing gas (Nitrous oxide) and they’ll receive it soon.

It never occured to me to ask for this laughing gas as a form of anesthetic instead of needles. Is it available in Kuwait? My Mother’s doctor was excited about it when she was telling her.. Mom goes to a private clinic, not a well known one, so I’m not sure if they’re behind when it comes to this Gas, or is it because this Gas isn’t available/used in Kuwait.

Any idea? coz I’m sure gonna ask for it instead if it’s available.

 





Chloraseptic is best for a sore throat

I get sore throat all the time, and this made me to try out lots of medicines and all kinds of throat lozenges. Nothing worked better than this medicine pictured above. Chloraseptic is available in Kuwait, I bought mine from Boots.

Cherry is my flavor of choice.

 





I’m back! I spent my little vacation at the red sea and I’m very annoyed that it ended! I spent the last few days at a place called Al leith, I don’t know how to spell it, but it’s 2 to 3 hours south of Jeddah by car, and we spent the whole 5 days on a yacht, very far away from land. With no mobile service and no internet. Yep. Secluded, no ringing, no buzzing and no nothing. just us, the sea, and… the sea. A Great fully loaded post is coming up soon inshallah, but right now I need to get some sleep.. my head is twirling and I feel like am still in the sea.

The video above is a one I shot during one of the dives. The corals and the visibility is amazing. it’s in a place called Canyon Reef, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You guys wouldn’t believe how beautiful the place is!

 




05
Nov

postedby

Jeddah Here I Come!

I’ll be leaving today to Jeddah on a diving trip with Bubbles Diving Center. We will be living on the boat for the entire journey, and have unlimited dives. UNLIMITED dives! It’d be a minimum of 3 times a day.. for 5 days.. yeah I’m gonna hate the day I got my license, but that’s alright, as long as I’m away from the daily routine I’ll be happy, even if it just for a few days.

I’m gonna be away till tuesday. I’m going to post all about it when I come back. Wish me luck!

Mishary take care of the blog. I have spies everywhere ๐Ÿ˜›

 






^ Click on the picture for a bigger version.

I once was inspected by the Saudi border officials, and was asked to declare whether I had x rated videos on my laptop. I was asked to start up my laptop and show them what kind of videos I had on it. Upon asking the border official what kind of files he was looking for, he responded with “A7na shabab wen3aref ba3ath.” As funny as that may sound now, I wasn’t laughing then, and he was dead serious. Adding to the “maskharaness” of this whole situation, the gentleman didn’t have any clue how to use a Mac. He then went on and asked me to do my own search for nasty videos on my laptop. In my turn, I asked what word he would like me to do a search for, and thats when he finally felt silly, and let me go.

Thanks Fawaz

 





For my brother’s wedding (Milcha) we chose beautiful clear lake flowers Jane Packer Flowers to take care of the flowers for this occasion. We called them to arrange for the whole thing, and they asked to visit us and take a look at the place so we could select where the flower would be and all. Then we chose the flowers and colors.

Read the rest of this entry »

 





Kuwait's Kindergartens back in the day

Kuwait’s Kindergartens back in the day used to be from 8am to 4pm. They used to provide the kids with lunch and snacks, and they also used to let them nap during noon time.

I showed my mother the picture above, and she remembered the big hall where they used to sleep. She had this to say:

“I remember that big hall, and I remember that I cried for a whole week because of that hall. I hated the idea of sleeping in that hall and I didn’t like leaving home to Kindergarten in general. My father didn’t like seeing me crying like that and decided not to have me go to the kindergarten anymore, and instead remain at home till it’s time for 1st grade (ibteda2y).

I have a cousin who is my age, but was a year ahead of me in school, I didn’t realize the reason behind her being ahead of me till recently.. I was sorta punished for not attending Kindergarten.. they made me stay in 1st grade for 2 years. I don’t know how they did that, and how my family allowed that to happen. But back in the day, Kuwait wasn’t so organized when it came to matters like this (kanat 3ayma isalfa).”

I think this system of having the kids nap at noon time was stopped during the 70’s or early 80’s. I remember in our days we used to have breakfast and snacks.. no naps, and we’d leave home early, 12:30 or 1pm tops.

According to the email I received the picture was taken at Balqees Kindergarten in AlDasma.

Thanks H.A.S.

 




23
Oct

postedby

3497 E-Mails

Ever since getting the blackberry I stopped checking the emails on my laptop.. and they kept piling up ๐Ÿ™‚

 





Congrats Dear Friend 00

I met INM right after becoming friends with his brother Mishary, and we clicked immediately. I’ve always been pretty selective when it comes to friendships and I really believe that having a big number of friends doesn’t prove anything, but counting the number of times a friend stands by you is what really matters, and going by that, I consider myself a very lucky person to have such great friends.

INM got married today (Malach). Congrats ya INM! 3albaraka o bittawfeej inshallah! ๐Ÿ™‚

 





Recurring Dreams Mine is about college

I’ve spent lots of years in college, I didn’t have it as smooth as other people did, mainly because I screwed up big time and neglected what should’ve been my main concern. I think it’s very normal to worry about these things a couple of days, a couple weeks, a couple of months after graduation… but not 2 years later.

Yesterday I had this recurring dream, I don’t know if you guys have dreams of this nature, where I’m 2 weeks away from my last day at school and I discover that there is this one course that I totally forgot about and that I haven’t attended any of it’s classes nor exams. The dream is so real that I wake up miserable in the midst of the night, and when I go back to sleep I continue that same dream again! These types of dreams happens at least once a month..

What is your recurring dream?

 





We had a conversation early on, and the phrase “Women shouldn’t be allowed to travel alone” was said and then followed with harsh remarks about women who do travel alone. (remarks towards the women and their families). I want to discuss this.

But first I want to say that I won’t be getting into what Islam had to say about it, I don’t know what was said, and I don’t want to get into how many “exits” are available for such a rule. That being said, I want to say a few things of what I think of that phrase:

1-First of all, I think we shouldn’t be conditioned by what people think is acceptable.

2-I think that nowadays people are being selective as to which rule they follow and which rule to skip when it comes to religion.

3-I think if a woman ever had to travel alone, it is up to her, and her husband/parents. And it is not right to judge a woman’s morals or her relatives’s solely by their decision to have the woman travel alone.

4-I have a problem with the “shouldn’t be allowed” part, because I think people should be convinced rather than forced. Or else why bother?

Ok, now that I’ve said these 4 points, I wanna also say that I partially agree with that phrase.. However, what I don’t agree with is the judging part. When I was abroad, I’ve seen many girls who were studying abroad by themselves, without any family members in sight, and some of them were far more worthy of respect than many of the girls who aren’t “allowed to travel alone”.

 





Fierce cat eats terrified pigeon

As I was getting out of the parking building near work, what sounded like a big wooden board fell and made a very big sound, I felt my heart in my throat when that happened. It was funny the way I flinched, but then a group of insanely terrified pigeons started flying directly at me, they managed to avoid me, but one of them while avoiding me crashed real hard in the wall next to me, the poor thing. My mouth managed to spit out a curse, Allah yakhthich, and I walked away from this hazardous spot.

2 minutes later I had to get back to the car to get my iPod, and I saw this cat eating a pigeon. I’m guessing its the same pigeon that crashed earlier. Allah khathaha. RIP.

 





36 Hours with no mobile

I completed 36 hours without a mobile and I have mixed feelings over this. I think it’s a relief to be untrackable for a while (I don’t like that we are always reachable), I enjoyed being a bit out of reach today.

On the other hand, it feels like you’re lost and totally out of the loop.

I’ve sent my Bold to a phone shop that my brother recommended but they don’t know what’s wrong with it. The Bold has been giving me lots of trouble, I’m actually glad that it died. Mishary is giving me his curve instead till some new Blackberry phone is released. By the time Mishary passes by and drop his mobile it’s going to be 48 hours for me without a mobile. Nice little experience, but I wouldn’t do it again.

Thanks Mishary ๐Ÿ˜‰

 





They blocked almost all the blogs at work. I got bored. The Whiteout (corrector) and the Hole Puncher were right there… so I got creative. ๐Ÿ˜›

I’m usually busy at work.. What do you guys do when you have absolutely nothing to do?

 





This video isn’t real, it is made by a group of drama students from Gwent county in the UK. It is however a bit graphic. I think you all should watch this video nonetheless, it just shows how we take some serious things like concentrating on the road while driving so lightly.

LINK

Thanks Fawaz

 




26
Sep

postedby

Traffic Jams season!

Yep it’s on and starting tomorrow. Many schools are starting tomorrow and the Banking sector’s timing has changed to 8 o’clock, just like the rest of the private sector, so beware. Be prepared and get out of home early.

 





While we were on Sharm AlSheikh last month, we were told not to miss a place near Sharm, called Dahab. The place contains one of the best diving spots in the world. It is called “The Blue Hole”. It is a hole right off the shore, the picture below might explain it a bit, as you can see, it look somewhat like that, a solid ground, reefs and corals, and then chuk bom a hole. You dive in this vertical narrow cave till you reach an arch; an exit to the open water.

The Blue hole at Dahab is infamous for being dangerous, and could lead to deaths, it had led to the deaths of many divers actually. Make sure you have a good guide when you’re there, since a there is no need to worry when you have the right equipment and a guide to show you through, And also to let you know when you need to ascend. It’s beauty is fatal, and thats why many people have drowned over the years (or at least that is one of the reasons), because of how exceptionally beautiful it is down there. It’s color, it’s steepness, it just allures you to go further down, kinda sucks you in, makes you want to get “just a little deeper”.

For me, the thing that made this spot the best spot I’ve dived in so far, is it’s steepness, it feels like you’re diving next to a huge & extremely vertical mountain, which provides a perfect flying illusion. It kinda feels like you’re flying next to mountain and when you look down, trying to get an idea of how tall this mountain is, the bottom is no where to be seen, and what’s below just fades into darker shades of blue & feels bottomless. It is that way because it’s 800+ meters deep.
Read the rest of this entry »

 





traffic

It keeps happening every year, when Ramadan is nearing it’s end the highways and roads get packed with cars, especially near the malls. Mom says it’s because of people and their last minute shopping for eid and girls wanting to cut their hair.

I understand why it happens, but what I don’t, ย how come it happens every year?? I want to know what kind of logic do these people have? Haven’t you learned to finish all your shopping for eid before Ramadan? or atleast before the first half of it ends?

Some years ago Ramadan used to take place when the weather is about to get colder, so that kind of justified the shopping, but now? I just can’t understand why does this has to happen every year.

 





We were discussing the swine flu topic today and someone raised this question: Why does Kuwait have this high percentage of swine flu cases compared to neighboring countries?

A Doctor was present and he had this to say:

“Take the number of cases discovered in Kuwait and compare it to the cases discovered at country X, and then take the number of deaths caused by the swine flu in Kuwait and again in country X, you’d find the that Kuwait’s percentage is much smaller than the other country’s. This tells us that in Kuwait we have more “reported” cases than other countries because we are more able, financially, to test and discover those cases, whereas in other countries they don’t bother to test each sick individual for swine flu.

It costs too much to test for the swine flu. Actually it costs the hospital much less to treat you and provide the necessary medication than to just test you. The UK for example started treating patients who have the symptoms without testing them first (depends on the severity of their symptoms). But since we’re in Kuwait, every person with the swine flu symptoms get tested, and thats why we have a relatively a high number of cases discovered compared to other countries.

And to add something, the numbers will double soon, but that’s not because the outbreak just got worse or bigger (That’s what Kuwaitis like to say at diwaniyas), but the truth is, it’s because a new lab dedicated to swine flu tests just opened, And naturally this new lab will report more cases as the amounts of tests increase.”

So don’t freak out just yet!

 





Best home remedy for 7aarij

The M7albiya (Muhalabiya) is a great way to make sure that you don’t wake up in the morning with a 7aarij (heart burn), especially during ramadan where you’re left helpless throughout the day.

We prepare many cups similar to the one pictured above, and we all make sure to eat some later at night after our last meal. It works like magic, and prevents the 7arij every time. It’s very easy to make too.

To prepare a muhalabiya all you need is:

  • Milk
  • Sugar
  • Starch
  • Rose Water

A big table spoon of starch and sugar for each cup of milk, it depends on the quantity you’re making. I would add more sugar, but thats me. Rose water is optional, a table spoon would be more than enough if you ask me.

Begin by adding all of the things mentioed above together in a pot while it’s still cold, then begin heating and stir. Keep stirring til it thickens, then pour into little cups and put em in the firdge till they cool.

You can add some fruits or nuts on top, But thats really unnecessary, After all we’re trying to avoid 7arij here.

Voila! Bon Appรฉtit!

Note: While you’re in the kitchen and have some starch lying around, you might wanna check this post out and make use of the excess starch!