Interesting fact. The reason the US Airways plane stayed afloat in the river for so long is partly because the Airbus A320 is equipped with a “ditch switch”. The ditch switch is a button in the cockpit that when activated, seals all ports and openings on the lower fuselage, so that once the aircraft enters the water, it doesn’t take on water as quickly as it would normally (via vents, drains, etc). I think that’s pretty cool. [Link]

Picture from [Here]

I was checking out Safat when I found a post by Intlxpatr talking about a Kuwaiti restaurant located next to Marina Mall. She had posted a bunch of pictures and the place looked really interesting and since it was on the same street as my house I decided to pass by and try it.

I have no clue how I never noticed this place before but even if I had I don’t think I would have thought much of it since from the outside it looks pretty average. Once you walk inside though you’re suddenly transformed into an old Kuwaiti city. The private cabins are actually little old Kuwaiti houses and to get to a cabin you have to walk through small narrow corridors, kinda like the old tight streets between the houses.

The menu is full of Kuwaiti dishes as you can expect, I ended up ordering hummus for starters followed by mourabian (yellow rice with shrimps on top) for my main course. The hummus was fine, the bread was weird, kinda like crepes but it was good. My main course also wasn’t bad at all and for KD2.500 was pretty cheap for the quantity. I prefer Oum Habbibs mourabian but that’s also nearly twice as expensive and located all the way in Kuwait City while this place is just minutes from my house.

Nothing I had tonight was wow but the place is an experience and I still have a ton of stuff to try on their menu. Prices are VERY cheap and you can actually check out most of the menu in Intlxpatr’s post. I passed by around 9:30 and the place was pretty packed. Overall it was a good experience and will definitely pass by again. They are located on the same street as Marina Mall, opposite Kwik Kopy, first floor, entrance is from the back next to the red truck (motor hamar).

To check out a lot more pictures of Freej Soeleh check out Intlxpatr’s post by clicking [Here]

The closest I’ve gotten to this bike was playing with my friends Hot Wheels version but now the Dodge Tomahawk bike is somehow in Kuwait. There were only 10 of these bikes ever made and the main feature was the V10 Viper engine that makes up most of the bike and pumps out 500hp. The bike originally cost $550,000 and there is one now on display at the TriStar showroom here in Kuwait. So even if you’re not interested in buying it, its still worth checking out because the limited availability practically guarantees you will never see it again. [Link]

Update: Although I received an email from TriStar clearly stating that the “Dodge Tomahawk Concept Motorcycle” was available in Kuwait along with the picture of the Dodge Tomahawk, it turns out instead they have a smaller Chinese knock off version of the bike with a tiny 150cc engine. Definitely not as exciting and definitely not news worthy. Here is a link to an article on Autoblog about these Chinese knockoffs with pictures. [Link]

I was watching the news when I noticed some Israeli soldiers were wearing silly looking chef hats. Turns out there is a reason..

The hat—called a mitznefet in Hebrew—attaches to a regular combat helmet and obscures its rigid, round shape. As the mitznefet flops about, it takes on an irregular form that’s harder to recognize in a shadow or out of the corner of your eye. The hat also protects against the sun and the moon, which might reflect off the surface of the helmet. A standard mitznefet consists of reversible mesh fabric, with a greenish woodland camouflage print on one side and a brown desert print on the other… [Source]

I’ve been checking out pictures of various easyHotel rooms taken by people on flickr and I honestly don’t know if I should be laughing or getting worried that I am going to spend 4 nights at an easyHotel end of the month in London. The rooms are so tiny most people could only take a picture of it while standing outside the room. But judging by peoples reactions in the photos, it looks like fun.. I hope. [Pictures]

Picture above by norbera

Back in 2006 I posted about a blog called IKEA Hacker that had just launched. The blog displayed different IKEA hacks done by other people, people who took regular IKEA stuff and using their creativity turned them into unique pieces. Well two of those people are a couple living in Kuwait, Pinot and Dita. They took IKEA fabrics, cut them up and then created fantastic wall art with them. Its really cool stuff and whats even more cool is the fact they taped the whole thing and created a video presentation which you can watch below. Currently they’re voting for the IKEA hack of 2008 and they are nominated so vote for them by clicking [Here]

Now watch the video below of the making of and check out the post about them on IKEA hacker. [Link]

[YouTube]

This product by Zippo is perfect for the current cold weather since its made to keep your hands warm. I think two of these would be perfect since you could shove each one in a pocket and then put your hands in and wrap them around the warmers. I don’t know if they sell them in Kuwait but on Amazon it goes for around KD5 without the lighter fluid which makes it Shop&Ship friendly.

Here is a link to the Zippo Hand Warmer product page [Link]
Here it is on Amazon [Link]

Kuwait ranked 31st in the world in computer ownership. Doesn’t sound that bad until you realize Estonia, Slovania Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Latvia scored higher than Kuwait. Not that I have anything against those countries mind you! [Link]

Update: I just purchased the ebook version of The Pocket World in Figures 2008 and here are some interesting facts I found related to Kuwait…

- Kuwait ranks second in lowest death rate per capita. UAE is first, Qatar is third.

- Kuwait ranks 20th in most deaths in road accidents, I used to think we were first?

- Kuwait ranks 2nd in most injured in road accidents, Qatar is first with more than 3 times the amount!

- Kuwait ranks 3rd in death by diabetes, UAE is first, Saudi is second.

- Kuwait ranks 2nd in largest amount of carbon dioxide emissions per person. UAE is first.

- Kuwait ranks 4th in “Proportion of a country’s population residing in a single city”. That city being Kuwait City which doesn’t make sense since not many people live in Kuwait City.

- Kuwait ranks 3rd in Least economically dependent on agriculture. I don’t know if thats a good thing, I doubt.

- Kuwait ranks 1st in Largest consumption of energy per head (oil). UAE is second, the US is 5th.

- Finally, Kuwait ranks 5th in most crowded road networks. Qatar is first, Hong Kong second and Germany third.

Some Contrast posted some pictures of the plane a couple of days ago but I couldn’t until I got approval from Wataniya Airways since they are my client. The above and below are pictures of the plane parked in Toulouse, France where Airbus plant is located. Hopefully next month I am going to be in Toulouse for the official unveiling and take some of my own photos but for now here are some of the photos taken by Airbus. The Kuwait Towers are proudly displayed on the tail of the plane and I think it actually looks pretty good. Definitely much better than the new MEA design which I HATE.

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Interesting fact, did you know that the Kuwait National Assembly was designed by the internationally known architect of the Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon? Jørn Utzon sadly passed away late last month on November 29th at the age of 90.

Supposedly its the first time its ever been done. Beam me up Scotty! [YouTube]

update: Gizmodo has a post on how they were able to use this. In short they used 44 HD cameras and 20 computers. [Link]

Reporters without Borders just released the 2008 Worldwide Press Freedom Index and Kuwait came first among Arab countries ahead of both Lebanon and UAE. It isn’t really a surprise since the top spot is usually always a fight between Kuwait and Lebanon but when Kuwait wins it always feels more impressive. [Link]

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