The Village has turned into one of the hot spots in Kuwait, and so many restaurants have opened up with a few more to go. The place is always packed but one of the hidden gems is Q Cafe and I think it is the best restaurant there by far. Its tucked in the back and just recently they have expanded the parking there which is much better but still there are a huge amount of people going their daily. The atmosphere of the place is trendy and classy, and the outdoor seating is great for when the weather was sunny and chilly, now its a little bit too hot.

The Cuisine is an Italian Fusion which is very interesting with a lot of items to choose on the menu. By far their choices of pasta items are fantastic and I loved their Gnocchi and especially their risotto. Their Chinese Chicken Salad is out of this world, I have picked it up a few times to go because I honestly love it. You can tell that they put a lot of effort into their food and really do work on it, I’m one very picky person and I have tried a lot of items on their menu and love them all. Their burgers are pretty good, I wasn’t expecting it to be from an Italian Fusion place but still it was good.

Their desert is something out of this world, I’m not a desert person but the items they have are worth trying. Whenever I go there my diet goes out the window I make sure to spend a bit more time at the gym if I know I’m going to pass by Q Cafe. I have been there probably 5 times this month and I can’t get enough of it.

During the orange storm that took place on Tuesday something happen to my internet connection, the weather condition doesn’t have an effect on the Wifi connection, the only issue is that if the equipment wasn’t bolted down correctly then the wind can move it slightly. I came back home to find that my internet connection was 1 to 2 MB. Luckily I had a good supply of shows to watch but surfing the net was painful. When you get used to highspeed anything else is just very very painful, so from 20 MB to 1.5 MB drove me nuts. I called up their support department, notified them of the issue, they went through the usual checks and said there was something unusual going on and an engineer would be dispatched by tomorrow afternoon which I thought was perfectly fine.

Next Wednesday afternoon I get a call from the engineer he said he will check the physical connection and get back to me. After three hours I get a call from the guy that he tweaked it and worked on it until he got it back to 12-14 MB which is the max he could get it working stably. He said he needs to come back with another engineer and test the receiving tower as well, he said he promised to get it back to 20 MB. I liked how he was very nice, called me when had a full update and didn’t just leave, he gave me a really good fix and verified that there was a major problem but he hasn’t figured what the main problem was but found a quick fix until the next day.

Then Thursday morning he was back and working at it with another engineer and he brought a spare transmission unit just in case mine was faulty. With the other transmission engineer and their support center they kept testing until they found the best work around solution. It seems something was interfering with the signal and I got really affected by it. They used the current equipment and didn’t need to replace it, but the great part is they had it with them. I tested the speed as soon as I got home got some very good numbers, even got about 2.4 Mbps for my download speed from the server which was insane. Excellent service, quick and consistent and this isn’t the first time I have an issue and they really get to it in a timely manner. This is the type of service that companies should follow.

One of the cars that I always thought had character was the Jeep Wrangler, nothing is really similar to it and each of is very different then the other one. It is one of the most interesting cars because it really reminds me of Lego, you can really take that car completely apart, drive it without doors, easy just take them off, top down, sure in 5 mins minutes the whole roof is off. You can literally upgrade every piece of that car and turn it into what ever you want, you know when you drive it with the roof off its a lot of fun.

There are a few drawbacks to the car, its very raw and basic, its 2012 and only recently did they add heated seats to it, wind is an issue when driving because of its box like structure, and until 2012 the gear box was pretty crappy. This is the new Wrangler JK Four Door with a 5 Speed automatic gear box, and I love that the whole thing is white. A small lift kit to fit those lovely Nitto Grapplers, they do make the car look that much hotter. The sound insulation has improved drastically on it as well, overall it is a much better machine then its predecessors. I was following it around with my Landcruiser and I was able to keep up pretty well in the sand dunes. Pree, the owner of the car, has a few more upgrades in mind but plans to keep it simple and clean. You can even see the people riding in the car with a huge smile on their faces. This car isn’t for everyone but I for one love it. Mabrook Bu-Hamed.

I Got This Email From A Concerned Reader, Abdulazziz, that this happened to him.

Well i got a phone call from Qualitynet today telling me that they’re cutting my internet because I’m using huge bandwidth the thing is it came out without any warning nor giving me my limits but whats strange was they offered me companies subscription which is 4 times what I’m paying around 1300kd a year while i pay 370kd for 8mb if I’m abuser why did they offered to switch my account why didn’t they warn me instead of telling me that they’re cutting the service and above all that there is no service on their website that shows how many mega bites i used!! so it could be all lies or trap to make people pay more than the amount they’re already paying.

After asking several questions back and forth, and asking a few other people on the inside, it seems Qualitynet is really doing this. I understand some of the ISPs have this “unsaid” rule of capping people a bit if they abuse their network, and I have been categorized by a few ISPs as an abuser but this is ridiculous.

They call a user and tell him he is an abuser and he can only upgrade to a “Company Plan” since he is no longer eligible for a “Individual Plan” which he has paid for in full and doesn’t end until November.

When he asked questions they offered him no explanation as to what are the exact numbers defined in his abuse. He just uses his connection for downloads and surfing, a lot of gaming, and major updates. I don’t think any of those are a real major issue and we all do that, I have several major updates my machines, hell I did a 15 GB patch to one of my games, so how is that defined?

You would think that after the Data Cap issues from last year that QualityNet & Kems started were over and done with and they learned their lessons. But it seems some genius in QualityNet thought to disconnect people for “Abusing” their connections.

Other then this action being very illegal since the user was given no notification, no explanation, and there were no new binding Data Cap agreements after the whole issue last year. He was given an ultimatum, either sign up for the company packages or we will disconnect you. He still has 6 months left on his connection and they aren’t even offering him a refund.

Seriously is anyone in QualityNet thinking, do they really think this is a just action? What happened to all the good guys who used to work their? Care about the users? They used to be internet junkies? Is is just a bunch idiotic accountants cooking up numbers to see how much they can squeeze more profits out of people, so the solution is to disconnect half way and not provide them with the service but keep their money. Its very sad that QualityNet has fallen so low.

It should be noted that I can’t leave an Anime store, especially one that brings back memories like The Animation Station, so I ended up buying the heads of Grendizer & Mazinger Z. Both would look very good on my desk and honestly these are very well made version, and to my surprise they turned out to be Coin Banks. I don’t think I will be using them for coins any time soon since I really like the way they look and they fit very nicely on my shelf. They are made from nice soft/hardened vinyl so they feel good when you hold them, high quality items and it just reminds me of the cartoons when looking at them.

While I was unboxing these I started playing the Grenzider opening, the original Japanese one, you can watch it here (YouTube). Honestly Duke Fleed was very cool, so when I saw these two I just had to have them. There were a few more things that I wanted to pick up but thats for a later visit, for now these satisfied me very much and it feels good seeing them on my desk.

I’m always interested about new Anime & Comic stores opening up in Kuwait, this one concentrates on a lot of old school shows like Grendizer, Getter Robo, Sanshiro, and a lot of other cool stuff. Its like an open Kiosk/Shop on the first floor in Discovery Mall, just behind you on the right as you go up the escalator.

Whats very cool is you can tell these guys are passionate about it, there was a lot of cool Grendizer stuff, and I had to pick up something while I was there, also I have to keep in mind that I don’t have much space to put stuff on any more, still they had a Ken Resin Statue which I haven’t seen in a while. They also had the Fewture Sanshiro – Jamaro model that I have which you don’t see often and I’m assuming it will fly off their shelves soon enough. If you have a chance its very much worth it to pass by the store, the pictures don’t do it justice, lots of fun stuff.

Usually I don’t have time to go to events like these, always something that comes up but this time around I had the free time and decided to go, I went a bit early but it was really worth it. Last time Pretty Little Things was held in a house in one of the residential locations, this time around it was done in Dar Al Sadu just opposite Al Seef Palace. I haven’t been to Dar Al Sadu for a long time and I have to say that I was impressed how well done the place was, I’m going to visit it again at a later time but for now I was checking out some of the stalls and displays on these very talented people.

There was a charity event for the of the Orphans in Kuwait which I think was a fantastic idea, it is being run by Mabarat Khair Al Kuwait. The Orphans are currently in a housing area which is desperate need of reconstruction and refurbishment. They have taken it upon themselves to get this done through the support of this charity. There are about 17 buildings for these Orphans, they are more like prisons in the dilapidated state then they are homes for Children. and the renovation of each building costs around 30’000 KWD so through the help of this charity you can help. You can pick a room to install new tiles, or a new water system, or several areas. They are basically completely overhauling the place and then I think there would be another round to help with the essentials of the homes, and I was really surprised to hear how bad it was, I’m honestly curious to visit them and see if a person can enter them. I honestly always wondered how well Orphans in Kuwait fare and how many are there, and I was very happy to hear that Mabarat Khair Al Kuwait was doing something to help them. And with the help of Pretty Little Things they can help get them there.

Now for the stores that were there it was a mix of several types of stores from different nations other then Kuwait. These are some of the names that I passed by and my favorites are starred, keeping in mind that this is somewhat aimed towards women, more then men. I still liked the overall atmosphere and the people that I met, honestly it does make me proud to see people doing these things and I like the was Dar Al Sadu looked.

Stalls:

• SO LULU – Lubna Al Nakib Jewelry
• Lina Jewelry Design
• Fyunka
• Pieces By Farah – One Of My Favorites
• The Yard – The Other Favorite
• Camellia – Bukhour & Oud
• Paper Design

Honestly there are somethings there that really impressed me, I do like seem cool designed furniture and thats the one that I liked the most. I think that I was probably one of the only men at that event, but luckily I went just at their opening. One of things that impressed me was the the CashToGo from Ahli Bank, so you could withdraw cash right there to pay for any items.

I know that there are certain general stereotypes of every different country in the Arab region and certain countries dislike some people more then the others but I always had the delusional thought that we were more on the liked scale like Bahrainis or Emaratis, but turns out I was very wrong. We were in Dubai for the weekend for MEFCC or simply Dubai Comic Con which was a lot of fun and I will be posting pics later. We also went out with some friends to a few places and for dinner a few times, and they all live in Dubai and one of the questions we asked them is who they disliked the most from the Gulf Nations, and surprisingly Kuwait was the first to spring up. Even after several questions it seems that Kuwait is first then Saudis second which shocked me. I always thought Saudi were first, then Qatari, then us, but turns out I was completely wrong. There seems to be general dislike for Kuwaitis in Dubai which I didn’t think was even there, never even thought about it, they say we are snobbish and think we are better then everyone else in the Gulf, and that we are very rude. Even the receptionist asked my friend where he is from when he was checking out he said he is Kuwaiti, she said that is surprising, he asked why and she said that usually Kuwaitis are angry and rude to her, she was from an Eastern European country. One note Omanis are one of the most liked in the whole region as they are very polite and nice to everyone and I have to agree they are very nice people.

Are we really that bad, is our whole population that rude to the rest of the world that we develop that sort of reputation. I always thought that we were liked and we treated people well to a degree. Some of ours friends say Dubai is great because everything is fine and you can have fun nobody would bother you as long as you don’t get into an altercation with a local, but Kuwaitis don’t leave people alone and we are rude. I was honestly very embarrassed to hear all that, and they said it to us in the nicest way, this is some of our good friends and a few people we met for the first time.

Link: Flickr

After a few months of use I have had a good experience with WIMD overall, it hasn’t gone south like a lot of people were worried about. But they are taking steps to make sure their service remains top notch. I hope they stick to the no capping rule, I have been downloading consistently and getting speeds from 1.4 to 2.1 MB depending on what I am download, shows that took 50 mins now download in less then 4 to 7 mins. Gaming has gotten a lot better as well, I am playing multiplayer without any issues at all, I just did a huge XBox update within mins, before I would wait for over an hour to finish the update.

Recently they are adding people very slowly, I think it is good for their current customers. I know it can be frustrating for new customers but they are taking it slowly and not over subscribing people. The current wait time is between 1 to 2 months and I honestly can’t blame them, they are being patient adding customers so they don’t flood themselves. What I liked also is that when I spoke to their customer service center they do admit their is a problem instead of telling you to reset your modem multiple times before they tell you the truth which has happened with a few ISPs before. They say there is a problem and it will take a day to fix since it is new to them, they aren’t a full ISP, they are like a learning ISP and their honesty is refreshing. Overall I am very happy with their service and recommend it to people. Keep in mind that if you have high speed connectivity through a land based or fiber connection that is always preferable but if you are like me with a crappy land connection then WIMD is an excellent option, the only limitation is the matter of LOS which line of sight to their tower. I think recently they have been charging people to do a sight survey in people’s homes but I don’t think that is right, I think they should offer it without it but those are in need would pay for it, but I’m not sure what the cost of the sight service is.

The other day I was told about a new road that takes you to Bubyan Island so I thought to just drive over there, just get into the car and drive. I looked on Google maps and all I had to take was 6th ring road all the way, and I forgot that directions in Kuwait now works, a few roads off here and there but overall it works. 117 KM to Bubyan Bridge, I honestly want to cross to see whats on that Island, its huge and I never heard anything about it so I thought to check it out, never knew why I didn’t before.

Saturday early morning we got into the car, filled it up with gas and took a few bottles water and pass Starbucks on the way. The drive is about 2 hours to the location we had in mind and I think I got caught by two speeding cameras on the way but I’m not sure of what speed it registered since I was going around 135 and they don’t usually snap at that speed. After passing Jahra it turns into an empty road and I get very surprised there is a new stretch of road that has just been finished.

Next to the new stretch of road is the Sheikh Sabah Nature Reserve, and I don’t know what exactly is in it but there were a few interesting sights. Because of these roads and odd shaped exits I felt as if I was in Abu Dhabi, every 5 to 10 Kilometers there is an upper level round about that you could exit and go back around to go in the other direction and honestly its very cool, reminded me of roads in Spain or Italy.

We just kept on going until we hit the construction area and we hit a few major bumps but luckily I was in the land cruiser and it did an amazing job of taking those bumps. We ended up in the middle of no where and we found the bridge entrance as I was approaching a bunch of guys in military uniform step out of the shed only to tell me that we can’t cross the bridge, I thought to try my luck any even though I knew that nobody was really paying attention, I could have probably crossed if I drove through, but I didn’t want to risk getting shot for crossing a bridge. I hope that when its done it will be open to the public because it looks like it will be a lot of fun to drive over.