Archive for category Kuwait
Kuwait Thoughts
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait on July 20, 2010
I’ve realised that Kuwait reputation is built, to the outside world, by its “mosalsalaaat”!!! Seriously, some of the questions I get are hilarious and leave me baffled. I don’t even watch Kuwaiti TV series, I rarely watch Arabic series.
Some said, the poor houses that are featured in the mosalsal are considered fancy to them 
I mentioned that we don’t walk around wrapped in textiles of every colour and texture, chained in all the jewellery our hands can reach and body can endure, wearing full clown with Dracula influenced makeup!
Walking around the house in pyjamas and morning kishas is a daily scene in some houses
A shocking question, do we all have body guards!! Apparently, there is a mosalsal featuring a Kuwaiti family with body guards!!!
My answer: ROFL!!! Wein qa3deeeeen.
Some questions are beyond my comprehension, is it true that the wealthy “sho3araa” poets steal poems from the poor ones! How would I know! And isn’t that a global concept, rich always taking from the poor. This concept isn’t applicable only to individuals, its proven for companies, countries, HELL even worlds, if another one existed.
A cute question was what does “machbooos” mean YUM YUM. I explained the dish. But the question, why is it called “Machbooos” and not “Chicken with Rice”.
عاد في فلسفة ورا كلمة كبس\جبس اللي اهي من أصل مجبوس
LOL, wallah madree did I explain it right walla laaa!
oo lazim football being mentioned! I look for a wall of shame to hide behind But as all faces were staring I declared, our football team sucks BIG time, thank GOD for Yemen in the gulf tournament, our sucking isn’t a standalone, fee wa7id we can beat. We were good, we crashed, we crashed even more, a little more … ba3ad more … I don’t know till when, but we will rise again 
Questions about gays and lesbians in Kuwait, another mosalsal dealing with this issue I guess.
Some were interested in our politics Our majlis omma is a mosalsal by itself!
I say there is some truth to our mosalsalat, a minor one, that is buried under the drama, extreme extravaganza, shoving of million story lines down the scenario throat, commercialisation, etc.
I tell them: “شوفو مسلسلاتنا زمان أول” ohhh and one more thing, please please please “لا تشوفون مسرحياتنا الحين”
But seriously, I always criticise and point the wrongs, but compared to other countries, especially Arab ones, we are doing better in terms of living standards and human rights.
Please do not say “الله لا يغير علينا”, I prefer “الله يغير علينا للأحسن انشاالله”
Morning Person
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait, UK, personal on April 15, 2010
I am a morning person, I get up even if I don’t plan it! I was not sure why? What was the motive of getting up early? I thought I’m a morning person by default, it is in me. I didn’t realise I liked waking up in the morning because of what it had to offer! Until …
I was in bed, it is 7 AM and I’m wide awake. I think what a perfect opportunity to head to town, grab coffee and take a walk, read a novel, enjoy the sunrise and the cool weather, enjoy some peace and quiet … wait …
You know nothing opens till 9 AM …
You know EVERYONE will be out in the street by 8 AM !!!
There is no pleasure in being a morning person, when everybody else in the country is!!!
Back home, I enjoyed my morning trips to pick up coffee, I love that coffee shops are open at 7 AM. Walk in malls before the shops are open. Have breakfast where only a handful of people are present. Early grocery shopping. Enjoy peace and quiet. I do not like crowded places, I plan around those.
Here, everybody is everywhere, it is a jungle out there, a jungle of humans … I got used to it I might add, but instead of waking up and going out, I’d stay put, make my own green tea, walk close by, where for at least a while wherever my eyes land … I see no one
Most Probably
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait, UK on March 18, 2010
In Kuwait:
2:30 AM, someone screaming wakes you up, quick get out of bed, maybe carry a heavy object and investigate … someone is in trouble and may need some help.
In UK:
2:30 AM, someone screaming wakes you up, lift your head, listen carefully, mutter to yourself “DAMN, those drunks!” and try to go back to sleep! … Someone is just having a little too much fun under your room window … most probably…
Sports Day
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait, UK, thoughts on February 14, 2010
On Wednesday lectures end early. In the morning you’d see most students in sports uniforms and equipment heading to the university. After lectures end, all the grass fields are filled up with students practising some kind of sport. Even schools as I walk by, children are out in the playground in groups, each playing a sport.
This is a day in UK, Wednesday is sports day.
Why don’t we have this in Kuwait ?
I’m not sure how was it for you, but for me back in the days, P.E. had the lowest priority. Most of the times we never actually got around to having that class, I’m not sure how we were graded! The slot was always taken by other subjects and when we managed to get around to having P.E., we just changed into our sports clothes and sit idly for 45 minutes, chatting and walking around. Most of the P.E. teachers were overweight with not physical fitness at all!!! School did not encourage sports at all.
Why don’t we have day like that? GOD knows we desperately need physical activities with all the obesity rate in our country. And it is important both to boys and girls.
We’ll have it on a Tuesday, middle of the week. Schools have their own covered gym. Some sports can be taken to other places, like sports club arena. In winter sports can be taken outside. If they don’t have enough P.E. teachers to cover a school or a district, outsource and not to single contract. I think it is better to contract on individual basis, that way assessing the individual’s qualification is more accurate and less troublesome with all the hassle of dealing with strikes because the contracted empolyer didn’t pay the employees.
School sports doesn’t have to be only about competitions and only the competed sports and students get all the attention, it should be about ensuring that individuals have a sport that they enjoy and will continue to practice throughout their lives and who knows maybe make a career out of it. “يمكن اتعدل الأوضاع الرياضية عندنا” 
To Cinescape Kuwait
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait, entertainment, thoughts on July 24, 2009
Have old movies screenings, there are lots of good old movies that I would go watch. They can offer free seats but charge for the snacks and sell advertisement slots within the show. Or just charge a small fee.
Run movie marathons, I for one, once watched all “The Matrix” movies in one shot. I wouldn’t mind watching “Lord of the Ring”, “Ice Age” or “Die Hard”. Imagine spending the whole day watching movies, who hasn’t done it before.
Of course, we all have our main complaint against movie screening here in Kuwait, censoring! But I think they have taken it too far, not only deleting love scenes but also violent scenes.
I recently went to Spike Lee’s latest movie and it was just like jumping gaps!
People going to a war movie are expecting to see violence and it’s their responsibility to take a look at the movie’s rating, if you get shocked easily then this movie genre isn’t for you.
Cinescape puts in mind that regardless of the movie’s rating, all ages will go to the movie, so they’ll edit the movie with a 3 year old as audience in mind. I think they presume, if they start forcing age limit, they’ll loose money. How many times have you seen babies in seats next to you in a movie that is way over their age limit!
I still like to see them implement a movie marathon and old movie screening, even for old Egyptian movies, we have huge fan base here, to attract audience, attending is free 
yallah Cinescape give it a go and add a form in which you receive suggestions and ratings, that would be cool.
Au Bon Pain Café
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait, food on June 21, 2009
One of my favourite cafés, is Au Bon Pain in Avenues. It’s located in the new extension. I think they’ll be opening a new location, there is a construction going on Gulf Road, I think near Marina, they have their name plastered all over the construction site.
I sometimes go there for breakfast or late lunch. Everything is fresh and perfect each and everytime. Though their coffee isn’t that good, but sometime a coffee-holic will drink anything to get their daily dosage
I like to order the Caprese sandwich for breakfast along with my coffee of course. I decided to take snapshots this time. It’s fresh, crispy and delicious
As for lunch I’ve tried their mushroom soup which is fantastic, creamy and full of mushroom, you can have it in a bowl or bread. I’ve tried their chicken ceasar salad, with ceasar salad it’s all about the dressing and theirs was good. They have fresh juices to go along with that too.
They offer ready made sandwiches and salads already packed in the fridge to pick up. They have wide variety of options to choose from and so far, everything I tried was good.
Aquatonic Spa – Crowne Plaza
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait, beauty on June 20, 2009
My friend Oryx had this urge to go swimming, so she looked up swimming pools. She then told me about this spa in Crowne Plaza and they had this therapeutic swimming pool, if you wanted to go for a day, it’s 50 KD. The good thing is they had an offer, for 30 KD, you’ll start at aquatonic pool for about an hour, then there is leg scrub treatment, then one hour massage and then you get a free lunch/dinner at any of Crowne Plaza restaurants. They had several packages, but we chose this one.
Aquatonic Pool’; the first of its kind in the Middle East and unique to the Crowne Plaza Kuwait, offers a selection of water therapies and experience showers, which adds a further holistic dimension to the facilities which we offer to our guests and members. The 500m² Aquatonic pool offers you a unique and holistic therapeutic experience via a variety of forces and temperatures being projected from jets and pipes. 163 different nozzles, aqua chairs and massage fountains, have been designed to create an active pool to exercise and rejuvenate.
The experience was amazing, there are specific hours/weekdays, allocated for ladies. Our slot was on Saturday from 9 AM to 12 PM. Upon arriving to the spa before 9 AM, we had to wait, I just remembered that we were promised drinks but didn’t get any! Anyway can’t complain for a 30 KD offer
The place is built-up really well, you don’t have to bring anything with you, they’ll give you robes and towels. We changed and were escorted to the pool, there was an instructor who handed us head caps and explained to us what needs to be done at each station in the water.
If you take a good look at the picture above from their site, there are showers and pressure points within the pool. You have to move from one place to another and stay at a position for a specific time. I really recommend it. There isn’t much swimming involved really, but we had loads of fun. One hour isn’t enough to go through it all, we had our massages booked for 10 AM.
We got out and then headed for the steam room, we stayed for about 15 minutes and were escorted to our next scheduled leg treatment and then massage.
The rooms were grand and had everything in them. Changing space, bathroom and a shower. After we were done with our massage, they took us to a resting place to drink herbal tea.
We asked about our lunch/dinner coupon and they called up the restaurant we chose and the downside of it they already selected the meals for you. We changed to a Lebanese restaurant that wasn’t that good. But again, can’t complain, it was a good offer.
Check out their site (link) and contact them to see if they have any offers.
An advice, show up early before 9 AM to get into the pool, because it gets kind of crowded. That way you don’t have to wait for your stations. The overall experience was great
Zain – SMSthem
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait, technology on February 16, 2009
Zain offers SMSthem service, this service provides the ability to reach a group of people by sending one text message to one number only.
I didn’t know about it but my sister showed it to me so I can configure it to my mother.
You can login (link), and register by providing your mobile and a password will be SMSed to you.
Quote from their site “SMSthem is a Group Messaging service for all Zain Post Paid (Contract) subscribers. Registration to the service is FREE, and there are no monthly fees. Subscribers will be charged 10 Fils for every message delivered to a group member, and 20 Fils for the initial message sent to 807. The BIGGER your list the more you SAVE.”
You can have upto five groups, each having 30 contacts. I had to edit 90 numbers for mom, she already had 3 groups. I was either going to have to go through every group and edit all numbers (delete/add) or start over again.
I couldn’t delete the whole group at once, I had to go to each number and delete by selecting the number and then click on delete. Keyboard strokes aren’t considered as inputs. You can’t use the delete key button nor the shift/ctrl for multiple selections!
There is no search feature so I can search for a particular number in a group.
I had to add each number individually.
Number aren’t sorted. They are sorted in some way and it isn’t in the way you entered them or ascending/descending. The first group, they were sorted in an ascending order. The other two groups, I would find some numbers are listed in a way I entered them, but only a sub-group of the group itself!
I ended up entering 85 numbers, so 5 numbers are missing and I don’t know which ones are they so I had to go through it again!!!! crossing numbers I found …
Mom saves about half the amount by using this service for her “jam3eyat el-eslah” contacts.
This is a good feature, that I believe my mother knew about from Zain SMSes to their clients.
Cinescape Website
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait, entertainment on November 23, 2008
I just want to thank cinescape for updating their site … finally!
Wasn’t it annoying when you clicked the icons and this awful screeching sounds came off!!
I like the new setup, I was trying to book and I needed to specify number of seats first and as soon as I click on a seat it books the total number starting from left to right! This way you can’t book scattered with a seat in between, though you can make multiple reservations, hmmmm, we’ll have to see about that! Anyway , it wasn’t booking and there wasn’t any error message or warning, then it turned out I didn’t have enough credit, it would be nice if they had a message stating that
I sent them an email a while ago but it didn’t go through because it was forwarding to a non-existent account ;P wallah makoo sho’3ool
Dear Sir,
When booking on-line and receiving the tickets with the k-cinema card, why isn’t possible to select multiple reservations?
I was wondering if it is possible to have your software team to further customize your booking application to include this feature for more convenience. Sometimes we have multiple reservations and for each of them, we need to insert the card go through the proceeding, receive the tickets, take the card out and insert it again to retrieve the next set of tickets.
Also, for the web search, the search can be further customized to include selecting more the one criteria, like choosing the cinema and movie and review the results of both selections. I know you don’t have a large number of cinemas or movie listings but that’s something to include.
loooooool if I were in their IT, I would have thought, wallah this person has nothing better to do ;P
So I need to see two movies 007 and Madagascar LOOOL, the latter was hilarious when the first movie came out. My sister and I were laughing soooo hard, tears came pouring down …
physically fit physically fit …. I like to move it move it … act cute boys … smile and wave … loooooooool … we’re going to die … hehehehe … memories … I hope this one is as good as the last one ;D
Just A Question
Posted by Bloggylife in Kuwait, thoughts on October 18, 2008
Finally we completely shifted to the new numbering system, I don’t know about the complications especially with the landlines but with days we’ll discover them
Each segment was added a digit, the only one that really confused me was the ’1′ in the (8xx-xxx) commercial numbers. Why didn’t they add another ’8′, wouldn’t that be the trivial thing
Or do they plan to start selling the new (8xxx-xxx) block, so everyone will be competing for numbers again?
Another thing now all Zain numbers start with ’9′ and Wataniya with ’6′, what about those who had gold numbers starting with ’4′ for example and then when ’9′ was added and destroyed the complete structure, who will refund them? Can they sue Zain or Wataniya? ohhhhhh, I got a better idea, how about suing MOC My number was a mess and when adding the extra digit that fact didn’t change, regardless I’ll join in the action!
Seriously some after adding the additional number, the price of their lines got up were as for other it went to the ground
The first group didn’t pay big KDs for the nice flow of numbers but the second group did and their loss is huge, some paid thousands of KDs -silly I know but they do-, so who will compensate them I wonder
Dare I say MOC ??
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