Engines revving, cars skidding, adrenaline pumping, and a big smile on my face. That is probably the whole feeling I had during GulfRun 2008. I don’t think there is something that I look forward to as much as this event once a year. 40+ cars, so many drivers, tons of friends and family, we had the events in Kuwait which was the build up to the Bahrain International Circuit. I wasn’t on the track much since I was preoccupied with a few things but I was having so much fun with a lot of people and this event does bring people together, and I always catch up with people I see them on the street randomly or someplace else. This footage was put together by myself (20%) and Doc S (80%), I only did the story board and music, Doc pretty much did everything else, we make a great team. Now we made to uploads one to youtube so it spreads like wildfire and the other to Vimeo for those who have Youtube blocked at work and its better quality in my opinion. Now I really can’t wait for GulfRun 5.
It was just one of those morning when you feel like you could have slept in the whole day. Then my friend says how bout Cafeteria Shuwaikh for breakfast, that got me awake, I haven’t been there in months and you can never go wrong with Cafeteria Shuwaikh. I have probably never seen a female creature in the vicinity of that place, I’m assuming its because of the location rather then the food, because the food is damn good.
What I really like about the place is how simple it is and how clean it is, it wouldn’t have lasted this many years if it wasn’t the case. I remember going into the back before, and this time around I checked out the back and its just as clean. The best part is that if you are hungry the food comes out pretty fast but you have to know what to choose, I go straight for the Laham Bil Ajeen, some the guys had the pizza and zaatar but I didn’t feel like them really. They have this laban which is pretty tasty as well, hit the spot for the morning before heading out.
Let me just say this, usually I boycott the movie theaters in Kuwait because of the butchery a film goes through. This time I have gotten confirmation that very little from the Star Trek movie has been censored, about 3 scenes have been cut which isn’t bad for Kuwait’s standard of censorship. If you have been waiting to see this movie as I have then go see it now, you won’t regret it. Another odd thing we have in Kuwait is that people who think that the Spandex suits that these characters might wear is too revealing then they complain to the Ministry of Information and they take the movie back in for another round of chopping, so the earlier you see it the better chances you have of it being shown with the least amount of cuts, at this point its only 3 cuts so go watch it.
For some reason the past two weeks have been formal and informal engagements, and making it right after work is always cutting it short. I’m going from meeting to meeting and barely having enough time to get a bite to eat. The last two weeks I have been getting home around 7 or 8 pm and all I can think about is food, and passing out. Luckily I have been leaving late so I have managed to avoid traffic, I don’t even realize what time it is except when I get home and think there is so little time to watch some TV or just bum around. I haven’t even gotten around to cleaning up my room or rewiring things the way I wanted yet, but I will in due time. I’m hoping things settle down soon.
Link: Flickr
I don’t know if there is any truth to the matter, but I have been hearing that a shooting took place last night at the Avenues at around 10:30 pm. A bearded man with a AK-47 walked into the mall from the cinema side and started shooting, there were reports of multiple police cars and ambulances at the sight but nothing in the news papers. Today the IKEA side is closed off, any one know any other information since nothing was reported in the news.
Update: Was a hoax! Turned out it was a fake call!
A few hours before the flight I realized that my blackberry phone doesn’t have international calling or roaming, I do have the international blackberry service from Zain but it wouldn’t really be too useful if I didn’t have international calling or roaming. I called 107 and asked them about activating international roaming and calling with Civil ID in hand, the gentlemen on the line kept repeating that I had to go to the branch no matter what I said and the airport branch was the only one open on Friday, and the tough part is that my flight was from Sheikha Sa’ad Airport and not the main one, so it was a bit out of the way. I went to the branch in the afternoon as soon as I was done with that call, walked in and saw about 30 odd people in front of me, and it was going at a snails pace.
I called them up again whil I was there, told them this is ridiculous, I’m not waiting 2 hours to get something so simple done, I asked what would be the case if I was out of the country, then they said I would fax a letter with a copy of my civil ID asking them to activate the services, only while I’m out of the country. So I thought of it, left the que which still had at least 30 people in it.
When I got home I wrote a letter asking them to activate these services and all the details they required. Within an hour the service was active from the convenience of my home, that is much better then the long wait. I’m assuming for activating services such as these your better off doing it this way instead of wasting your time at the branch.
What you need:
- Copy of Civil ID
- On the copy stating you want Int. Roaming and Calling activated
- Stating you are traveling and needs this urgently
- Signature, Date, Time, and Again Civil ID number
- Then fax all of that to Zain on one piece of paper preferably
I think this went to a fax server so they store the document as evidence requested the service. I think this is much simpler then going to any branch when your short on time or don’t feel like going.
This is probably the coolest video that I have seen made in Kuwait, I roaming around youtube looking for some off-road clips in Kuwait and I came across this. For a simple video it is executed so welluted, and the ending is pretty funny. The music fits the riding and driving perfectly, I am person who lacks off-road skills like these riders but I can appreciate how well the video was done
About two days back, mid day around 12 pm I got onto the first ring road heading to Kuwait City, to Salhiya to be exact and so I had to enter the Sheraton Round About, and suddenly traffic came to a complete halt half way there, and we were completely stuck on the 1st Ring Road.
If you need to go to the city, and heading towards to Sheraton round about try taking the 2nd Ring Road and entering it from the other side. The traffic is flowing at the round about, at a steady pace but the 1st Ring Road comes to a complete stop and moves at a snails pace which drives me mad and I’m assuming everyone else who got caught in it feels the same.
This project has taken too long, they have ruined the area around Church and Sheraton area. It has taken too long to finish the damn project and now they are making it worse. The traffic has increase three fold and we aren’t seeing when exactly this project will wrap up.
I kept hearing about ILoveSouk so I decided to pass by, I thought it was an exhibition for a week or two at the Corniche Club. Turns out I was wrong, its a new concept by Majed Al Sabah, the creator of Villa Moda, with an interesting twist. A lot of the items are original pieces, the ground floor is furniture pieces and art gallery, which at this point has Youtube looking art.
On the first floor they have women apparel, one off pieces, and lots of interesting accessories. What I found the most interesting is the Lomography stand with all the different variations of the Camera and samples. Its very nice seeing a fresh store like this and I hope them great success. I think that it caters to many different tastes and its worth checking out.
Link: ILoveSouk
I think a few of us have been to Starbucks a few times in Kuwait since there is one on every corner. Almost every experience at a Starbucks has been pleasant, at most they are a bit too persistent with the new items but other then that the service is usually good. And a few times the staff attitude is excellent and I do enjoy talking to them. Even when going to the Starbucks in US its always a pretty nice experience because the people there do a good job of being nice to the customer and are usually genuinely nice. Whenever you have a good experience I want to leave them a good tip, and thats the case in the states but in Kuwait its another story. People in Kuwait don’t understand the concept of tipping, its understandable that tipping should be measured by the percentage of the final value, something fair. This concept doesn’t seem to be known to people in Kuwait, or they just don’t tip but thats another matter. In Starbucks there is a fear of tips, really the staff is afraid of tips. In the UK and the US there is a tip box next to the register when you pay and its split amongst the staff, in Kuwait there is no such box. If you want to tip them they step away from the table as if they would get fired for accepting the tip. Is this so they won’t make people feel obliged to tipping them? I don’t understand whats the point of having this corporate policy. I think their salaries are ranging from 200 to 250 KD, I’m not sure if their stay is provided by Al Shaya’a, I hope it is. Going back to the subject, I just think that having a tip should be allowed and it shouldn’t be denied at all.