Safat: The KuwaitBlogs’ Aggregator

Every night as part of my diet I am allowed to only eat grilled food and veggies. After the gym the most convenient thing for me to pick up is grills from either Turkish Grill, Kebabji or Villa Fayrouz Express. I usually call them from the gym parking lot and by the time I get to them the food is ready for me to pick up. Recently Kebabji increased their prices which annoyed me since their main competitors offered more for less. I decided to put up this post in hopes of someone from Kebabji reads this and realizes they need to go back to their old pricing.

Below are the three restaurants with some figures I took so I could compare them. The weight of the meat was calculated by placing just the meat on a digital scale and not the whole box. I ordered the exact same dishes from the three restaurants, grilled tikka meat and a side of tabbouleh.

Turkish Grill
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD2.000
Pieces of meat: 15
Weight of meat: 175grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 600fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 272grams
Telephone: 25752565

Villa Fayrouz Express
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD1.950
Pieces of meat: 19
Weight of meat: 196grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 850fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 508grams
Telephone: 25755527/32

Kebabji
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD2.390
Pieces of meat: 12
Weight of meat: 66grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 950fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 295grams
Telephone: 1861616

I took the liberty to plug the figures above into a table for easier comparison. I highlighted the best prices and weight in green while I used red for the worst prices and weight. As you can see Villa Fayrouz Express surprisingly came out to be the best deal. I said surprisingly since between the three it’s actually the least fast foodish. Kebabji on the other hand didn’t fare too well. They had the most expensive prices and the least quantity.

My well deserved/highly appreciated vacation is semi-over, ofcourse, loads of things to cover from here and there but I just need some time to catch my breath.

That being said, HED KANDI’s musical compilations were my best friends throughout the whole journey.

Lots of feel good vibes, great music, wonderful bass and un-cut/interwind tracks, PERFECTION.

You can grab a listen to it over HERE.

Many people dont know it, like me, but dance/house music may be their favorite genre. I found that out back in 04/05 – better late than never.

p.s: BIG THANK YOU TO THE HED KANDI team for the warm warm hospitality and over the top experience, you guys rock ! *Subscribed my credit card to ALL your future releases* yes, im SOLD/Yours/Committed, HAH!

Everything was, how should I put it ?, yup, just like you say it – SOULFUL.

Miranda – Mike – Angela & Craig, you made everything worthwhile. THANK YOU !

Related posts:

1. Khaled, Welcome Back Home Welcome back home. No im not late with my warm…
2. Celebrities Give Kuwait Some Love A dear reader Norah, sent me a bulk of celebrity…
3. Buzberry: The Missing Z Usually, I highlight when blog friends renovate their homes for…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

My well deserved/highly appreciated vacation is semi-over, ofcourse, loads of things to cover from here and there but I just need some time to catch my breath.

That being said, HED KANDI’s musical compilations were my best friends throughout the whole journey.

Lots of feel good vibes, great music, wonderful bass and un-cut/interwind tracks, PERFECTION.

You can grab a listen to it over HERE.

Many people dont know it, like me, but dance/house music may be their favorite genre. I found that out back in 04/05 – better late than never.

p.s: BIG THANK YOU TO THE HED KANDI team for the warm warm hospitality and over the top experience, you guys rock ! *Subscribed my credit card to ALL your future releases* yes, im SOLD/Yours/Committed, HAH!

Everything was, how should I put it ?, yup, just like you say it – SOULFUL.

Miranda – Mike – Angela & Craig, you made everything worthwhile. THANK YOU !

Related posts:

1. Khaled, Welcome Back Home Welcome back home. No im not late with my warm…
2. Celebrities Give Kuwait Some Love A dear reader Norah, sent me a bulk of celebrity…
3. Buzberry: The Missing Z Usually, I highlight when blog friends renovate their homes for…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Posted by Nat

I passed by the Kuwait’s got talent exhibition tonight at Villa Moda and there were 2 things that I fell in love with. When i first came in, there was a little cute pink corner for “Nat Bakes” with boxes of cupcakes and cookies which of course was the first thing that caught my eye since I’m a huge fan of cupcakes and because my name is Nat. I grabbed a couple a tiny cupcake samplers, a red velvet recommended by a friend and the chocolate coconut cupcake. Both were delicious and surprisingly way better than the cupcakes I tried at Magnolia’s Bakery when I was in New York. I wanted to try all the different flavors but managed to stop myself. As I was moving on I saw the cutest cookie monster cupcakes ever with an actual real cookie in its mouth. The cupcake prices were very decent as well ranging from KD6 to KD8 per dozen depending on the kind of cupcakes. They currently just deliver and you can visit their website www.natbakeswithlove.com for more information.

The second thing that caught my eye was a little corner for local designer Ascia AL Faraj and her local concept Twenty Ten. She had these amazing scarves on display which I just fell in love with. The colors she had on display were vibrant and summery. I didn’t get anything tonight, but I’m going back tomorrow to pick up a couple. Twenty Ten doesn’t have a website yet but they do have a Facebook group which you can check by clicking [Here]. The scarves are also available in my secret closet boutique in Karizma, Sharq. You can email twenty.ten.q8@gmail.com for more info.

There were ten booths in total but only these two caught my interest since the rest were not my style. The exhibition ends on August 1st, check Mark’s previous post for details.

Posted by Nat

Remember when I posted about my sister going crazy with her vuvuzela? – Well! ahem… I kinda understand why now I got mine a couple of days back! Her other friend gave her four vuvuzela and she gave me on of those!

Now my other sister is not getting it and want to kick us for it LOL!

Thank you Hamad, my sister’s friend

I have had the iPhone for a week now and so far like the majority of iPhone 4 users, I haven’t had any reception problems (note: I am using an Apple Bumper). No dropped calls or anything. As I’ve previously mentioned the reception is actually better than my previous iPhone 3GS. With the iPhone 3GS the 3G wouldn’t work in my office just EDGE while with the iPhone 4 I now have 3G in the office. Another example is when I park my car underground when I go to my gym, before I wouldn’t be able to use the phone there because I would get a no network error, now I get 1 or 2 lines of signals and can make calls.

Other than the much improved reception and antenna, another improved feature is the camera. The iPhone 4 camera is just amazing, I’m actually finding myself shooting a lot more pictures with my phone now and if you check my twitter page you’d see that. The camera is probably the best new feature followed by the screen and improved reception.

Now not all is perfect. What I am facing is issues with the proximity sensor. That’s actually the problem most iPhone 4 users are complaining about. The problem is the sensor the tells the phone that its next to the ear and should shut off the screen doesn’t work all the time. So I would be talking to someone on the phone and then suddenly I put the person on speaker phone or hang up by accidentally pressing a button on the screen with my ear. Luckily Apple are aware of the problem and admitted this was an issue that would get fixed with the next software update.

Other than that it’s all good, The screen is amazing, battery life is great and the phone is just really fast and responsive. I highly recommend it.

I met my friend Shurooq for coffee at 360 Mall yesterday after work… and before I left, I decided to make a quick stop at International Mills (elma67ana eldowaliya) for some sunflower seeds!

It was a bit crowded.. few people were ahead of me waiting to be served, it was around 8:00pm and I didnt mind the wait. A green-eyed lady, in her late 30s, kept looking at me, I pretended I didnt see her! She kept turning her face my way… till our eyes met – DANG! She is approaching me, I do not know who she is! She was smiling while she came my way, so I smiled back – I will call her Ms. Green

Ms. Green: God! I am diabetic, but I cant resist sugar (and she reaches out to the bonbons on the shelves, takes one, unwrap it, and put it in her mouth) :-O

I say nothing

Ms. Green: I like this mill… they have good stuff, right?

Ansam: Yes

Ms. Green: I have a daughter your age, how old are you????

Ansam: Excuse me? hehehe I dont think you are old enough to be my mother (trying to be nice – plus she didnt look THAT old)

Ms. Green: I am 36-38

Ansam: Mashalla (and thinking to myself WTH is 36-38!!! LOL)

Ms. Green: My son studies medicine and he is going to graduate this summer

Ansam: Congrats I am sure you are proud

Ms. Green: Well… its fine with me, in the end, its all for him right?

Ansam:

Ms. Green: I dont like the nationality of the sales guy (and she mentions his nationality – I was like GOD! I hope he is not listening to this) and she continues: They are well known for their flirting behavior and over confidence… blah blah blah (she said A LOT )

Anyways… the lady kept on going, I was praying for the line to go FASTER… but she kept going at it, telling me about her life, that she is divorced, her kids, that she needs to go to the ATM machine to get cash (and why would I be interested in that) – I just smiled mostly!

Oh and earlier today, I make a stop at the gas station, the service guy opens up to me and I am like WTH! He goes on about this customer who wanted to fill her gas with premium but goes to the ultra spot instead and then get shocked at the price and make a scene, he kept talking and talking and talking!

Last week, when I was sick and at the doctor, while waiting for my turn, I was wearing one of those worn-out-style jeans where its torn and all… this lady comes to me and asks “Is this style in? My daughter is killing me with her style, she wears all black… black clothes, nail polish, accessories, shoes… you name it” and she goes on and on until we get to her daughter’s performance in school and how bad it is….

I mean how far and deep can you go in your conversations with strangers!? I hardly even start one! And what do I have written on my forehead? Shrink??? LOL

Picture from Flickr

Anyone have an Apple Mac Pro they’re not using and want to sell? [Email Me]

Anyone have an Apple Mac Pro they’re not using and want to sell? [Email Me]

I have no words.

Took this pic Saturday morning directly from USHUAIA, a beach club situated in the hottest island on the planet. IBIZA.

We took a sun bed, ZEXY/HAWT/LAVA/CALIENTE people, MUSIC/MUSICA,  CRAZY. TASTY FOOD. Weather ? Beyond me.

“AYY PAPii”, just like some women say, *ahem*

There are lots of things to say, I could put up gazillion posts about where we went, who we say, what went down, soo not sharing.

I have no words.

I LOVE YOU IBIZA – will come to you soon, very very soon.

Like

Unlike

Related posts:

1. Hot COCO Marshmallow Sunday Morning Post Good morning kids, the weather is another reason for me…
2. Sea Shells Sunday Morning Post The sun made lots of friendship bonds with lots of…
3. Honey Sunday Morning Post Im having some of this mouth pleasing GOD given gift…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I have no words.

Took this pic Saturday morning directly from USHUAIA, a beach club situated in the hottest island on the planet. IBIZA.

We took a sun bed, ZEXY/HAWT/LAVA/CALIENTE people, MUSIC/MUSICA,  CRAZY. TASTY FOOD. Weather ? Beyond me.

“AYY PAPii”, just like some women say, *ahem*

There are lots of things to say, I could put up gazillion posts about where we went, who we saw, what went down, soo not sharing.

I have no words.

I LOVE YOU IBIZA – will come to you soon, very very soon.

Related posts:

1. Hot COCO Marshmallow Sunday Morning Post Good morning kids, the weather is another reason for me…
2. Sea Shells Sunday Morning Post The sun made lots of friendship bonds with lots of…
3. Lilou’s Scrambled Eggs Sunday Morning Post *p0ach* putting one hand up and the other on the…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I have no words.

Took this pic Saturday morning directly from USHUAIA, a beach club situated in the hottest island on the planet. IBIZA.

We took a sun bed, ZEXY/HAWT/LAVA/CALIENTE people, MUSIC/MUSICA,  CRAZY. TASTY FOOD. Weather ? Beyond me.

“AYY PAPii”, just like some women say, *ahem*

There are lots of things to say, I could put up gazillion posts about where we went, who we saw, what went down, soo not sharing.

I have no words.

I LOVE YOU IBIZA – will come to you soon, very very soon.

Related posts:

1. Hot COCO Marshmallow Sunday Morning Post Good morning kids, the weather is another reason for me…
2. Sea Shells Sunday Morning Post The sun made lots of friendship bonds with lots of…
3. Lilou’s Scrambled Eggs Sunday Morning Post *p0ach* putting one hand up and the other on the…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I have no words.

Took this pic Saturday morning directly from USHUAIA, a beach club situated in the hottest island on the planet. IBIZA.

We took a sun bed, ZEXY/HAWT/LAVA/CALIENTE people, MUSIC/MUSICA,  CRAZY. TASTY FOOD. Weather ? Beyond me.

“AYY PAPii”, just like some women say, *ahem*

There are lots of things to say, I could put up gazillion posts about where we went, who we saw, what went down, soo not sharing.

I have no words.

I LOVE YOU IBIZA – will come to you soon, very very soon.

Related posts:

1. Hot COCO Marshmallow Sunday Morning Post Good morning kids, the weather is another reason for me…
2. Sea Shells Sunday Morning Post The sun made lots of friendship bonds with lots of…
3. Lilou’s Scrambled Eggs Sunday Morning Post *p0ach* putting one hand up and the other on the…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I have no words.

Took this pic Saturday morning directly from USHUAIA, a beach club situated in the hottest island on the planet. IBIZA.

We took a sun bed, ZEXY/HAWT/LAVA/CALIENTE people, MUSIC/MUSICA,  CRAZY. TASTY FOOD. Weather ? Beyond me.

“AYY PAPii”, just like some women say, *ahem*

There are lots of things to say, I could put up gazillion posts about where we went, who we saw, what went down, soo not sharing.

I have no words.

I LOVE YOU IBIZA – will come to you soon, very very soon.

Related posts:

1. Hot COCO Marshmallow Sunday Morning Post Good morning kids, the weather is another reason for me…
2. Sea Shells Sunday Morning Post The sun made lots of friendship bonds with lots of…
3. Lilou’s Scrambled Eggs Sunday Morning Post *p0ach* putting one hand up and the other on the…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I have no words.

Took this pic Saturday morning directly from USHUAIA, a beach club situated in the hottest island on the planet. IBIZA.

We took a sun bed, ZEXY/HAWT/LAVA/CALIENTE people, MUSIC/MUSICA,  CRAZY. TASTY FOOD. Weather ? Beyond me.

“AYY PAPii”, just like some women say, *ahem*

There are lots of things to say, I could put up gazillion posts about where we went, who we saw, what went down, soo not sharing.

I have no words.

I LOVE YOU IBIZA – will come to you soon, very very soon.

Related posts:

1. Hot COCO Marshmallow Sunday Morning Post Good morning kids, the weather is another reason for me…
2. Sea Shells Sunday Morning Post The sun made lots of friendship bonds with lots of…
3. Lilou’s Scrambled Eggs Sunday Morning Post *p0ach* putting one hand up and the other on the…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This was one of the “FUN” days while I was sick all last week! I went grocery shopping at Rawda Coop with my sister! I am thinking of introducing posts where I take you shopping with me in different places… like this one, around the isles taking random pictures with short commentaries So lets go shopping… shall we?

The Verbena tea that I posted about previously (here, here, and here) is now available in Kuwait…. or maybe it was available all along but I didnt know about it hehehe Nice

I also highly recommend you try Lipton Clear Green tea (lemon)! I am not a BIG fan of green tea, I drink it for its benefit… I dont like the taste much, but this one is another story!!!

Anwho… moving on to the next item! I really like Heinz Tomato Ketchup Ad!

Take a closer look! Hahaha I love it, but I dont like Ketchup Yeah… not even with fries But its a nice ad

Speaking of fries… my friend Noon told me about this brand, McCain… she said it taste exactly like McDonald’s!!

And while on the subject of fries and ketchup… how about some burgers?

The one on the left is made of beef, whereas the one on the right is made of mutton! I never tried mutton burgers! I am not tempted… are you?

Did you know harees is called peeled wheat? I always knew it was wheat but didnt know what kind! hmmm interesting!

My friend, Shushu, loves Petra Swiss roll cakes! She calls them “Dowa Ka77a” (which means cough medicine) lol heheheh I guess just like how I believe ice cream can cure my cold, flu, cough, and tummy aches! Hahahaha

And the last one is an eye care product… I never tried it! I dont know if its any good but I like the idea

Tonight I was invited to a tasting at the soon to open Fatburger. I hadn’t had a Fatburger before and I honestly only heard about it around a year ago after watching the great documentary Hamburger America. In the documentary they spoke about various popular burger places in America and Fatburger was one of them.

I had the double burger tonight and thought it was great. It was juicy and meaty and I loved that. The senior vice president of Fatburger was there and he turned out to be a great guy in an incredibly colorful and flashy Hawaiian shirt. I meet a lot of burger lovers all the time but I’ve never met anyone into burgers more than me until today. The guy is just incredibly passionate about burgers and he’s been having burgers a lot longer than I’ve been alive. He knows it all and he’s seen it all. I mean he used to have Fatburger back in the 50s when they first opened so he was really there from the start.

Just a few interesting details I picked up from him. Since they want the local experience to be exactly like the US experience they’re importing all their ingredients from the US. That includes the beef, fries and even ketchup. The Heinz ketchup that’s regionally produced is different from the US version. The color is bright red while in the US its a dark red but most importantly the regionally produced Heinz is sweeter. Since they prefer the flavor of the US Heinz ketchup they’re importing it directly to Kuwait. Imagine that, they could have gone with the local Heinz but they’re instead getting it imported from the US. To me that shows how much they care. You’re going to have the exact same burger experience as if you walked into a Fatburger in LA.

If you’re interested in trying out their burgers they’re opening next week in Fintas at Spoons. It’s easy to find since its on the main Fintas sea side road opposite Pizza Express. Good stuff.

So what happened last week? Saturday night I wasnt feeling well.. tummy ache and all, but I ignored it. I have history of ulcers, acidity reflux, and IBS… so I was like yeah sure it will go away by itself… I can handle it. At almost midnight I was in so much pain that I woke my dad up and asked him to take me to the doctor, so we went to the closest clinic in which they immediately transfer me to Ameeri Hospital – ER – surgery dept! With initial examination they thought it was appendicitis. All my way to Ameeri I kept telling my dad that I felt better but he ignored me hehehe

So they ran some tests and asked for X-ray…. The doctor asked me to go back home and come back if the pain get worse.

A couple of days later I go back, but this time to Al Salam Hospital ER! I go under more tests this time it was to check on more things such as my gallbladder. Anyways… turn out its just my ulcers! I got my medications and went back home.

Everyday I would take the driver and spend the day at my sister’s house with her baby Z! I did that straight for almost one week! My sister kept me company during which

Then to add the cherry on top…. I had a traumatized toe nail (from tight shoes) – it was bruised-like and I kinda did try to solve the problem my way to clean the blood out – BIG mistake! I got it inflamed so I also had to see dermatologist/specialist for it! There is a big chance it will fall and I will be toe-nail-less :’(

Anyways…. look at the bright side; I am walking, talking, breathing, and posting… I am alive and in a better mood today

At the hotel we’re staying, they gave us towels and this while tanning. Zexy & efficient.

Related posts:

1. Abdullah Likes: Seashells I think Seashells are zexy and they remind me of...
2. Abdullah Likes: Reservoir Dogs Saw these pieces at a low key shop in Prague...
3. Abdullah Likes: Close Up, White NOW ...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

When it rains, it pours – but I got my umbrella & raincoat so BRING IT ON! Oh and the rainbow after the rain is so beautiful

Omg I just can’t stop laughing at Glozell videos…it’s my first time seeing her today and I just cracked up at every single reaction she did. Well she’s worth watching you can check her on youtube.

I heard the weirdest thing from my customer this week which was shocking for me. Well, my customer wanted to open an account in one of the Islamic Banks in Kuwait since he gets so many checks from them just to encash the checks quickly. He approached their head office to open the account and they gave him the biggest shock ever. ” Sir we can’t open the account because you are not Muslim precisely Christian “. He felt so degraded knowing that any other bank would take him like peanuts since he has a good credit history and his business is booming.

My point here is that this Islamic bank who is implementing the Islamic procedures in banking refuses to open an account for a Christian fellow whereas you have Christians employees in your back offices. Give me a break Jeez! I haven’t seen such discrimination before! As a bank, you implement the Islamic way of banking but you don’t impose that all your customers must be Muslims. Oh I remember too, on the other hand this bank in particular has shares in casinos and entertainment resorts in Europe. How can this be???

I heard the weirdest thing from my customer this week which was shocking for me. Well, my customer wanted to open an account in one of the Islamic Banks in Kuwait since he gets so many checks from them just to encash the checks quickly. He approached their head office to open the account and they gave him the biggest shock ever. ” Sir we can’t open the account because you are not Muslim precisely Christian “. He felt so degraded knowing that any other bank would take him like peanuts since he has a good credit history and his business is booming.

My point here is that this Islamic bank who is implementing the Islamic procedures in banking refuses to open an account for a Christian fellow whereas you have Christians employees in your back offices. Give me a break Jeez! I haven’t seen such discrimination before! As a bank, you implement the Islamic way of banking but you don’t impose that all your customers must be Muslims. Oh I remember too, on the other hand this bank in particular has shares in casinos and entertainment resorts in Europe. How can this be???

I heard the weirdest thing from my customer this week which was shocking for me. Well, my customer wanted to open an account in one of the Islamic Banks in Kuwait since he gets so many checks from them just to encash the checks quickly. He approached their head office to open the account and they gave him the biggest shock ever. ” Sir we can’t open the account because you are not Muslim precisely Christian “. He felt so degraded knowing that any other bank would take him like peanuts since he has a good credit history and his business is booming.

My point here is that this Islamic bank who is implementing the Islamic procedures in banking refuses to open an account for a Christian fellow whereas you have Christians employees in your back offices. Give me a break Jeez! I haven’t seen such discrimination before! As a bank, you implement the Islamic way of banking but you don’t impose that all your customers must be Muslims. Oh I remember too, on the other hand this bank in particular has shares in casinos and entertainment resorts in Europe. How can this be???

Getting an iPhone 4 is pretty simple but you need patience since the iPhone 4 is currently in short supply and can take up to 3 weeks to be delivered. To order an iPhone 4 you also need the following:

1) Local credit card
2) Aramex Shop&Ship account (not sure if it works with others like DHL)

Then what you need to do is go to the UK online Apple Store which is located at the following link address:
http://store.apple.com/uk

Once there click on the iPhones and then select the iPhone you want and check out. If you never ordered from Apple before you will have to create an account. Put your billing address as your Kuwait base credit card address and then put your Aramex UK forwarding mailbox address as your shipping address. The UK iPhones are officially unlocked.

I placed my order on June 25th for a black 16GB iPhone 4 with a black Apple iPhone 4 Bumper. I paid the following:

iPHONE 4 BLACK 16GB 424.68 GBP
IPHONE 4 BUMPERS BLACK 21.28 GBP
——–
VAT 17.5% 78.04 GBP
——–
Final Amount (VAT included) 524.00 GBP

I paid with my NBK credit card and according to my bank statement the amount I paid in Kuwaiti Dinars was 236.570.

My iPhone 4 shipped on July 9th and arrived to my Aramex mailbox on July 15th. It showed up in my Aramex mailbox the same day and then shipped from the UK on July 16th. I received the iPhone today July 21st after being held in customs for 3 days.

The Aramex shipping charges were KD5.750 and that included the customs clearance fee. This was only for my iPhone 4, my iPhone Bumper is still held in customs. On a side note when the iPhone arrived it was unopened. Not just the actual iPhone box but the larger box the iPhone came inside had not been opened neither by Aramex nor customs.

I also passed by Zain and picked up a micro-sim card which you need for the iPhone 4. The sim card cost me KD5.

If you have any questions ask it below. Regarding antenna and reception problems, I believe this was blown out of proportion by the media and as Steve Jobs said it’s not a problem and 0.5% of the 3 million iPhone users have had reception issues. Many popular phones have similar reception issues which you will never have to experience if using the phone normally. If you have any questions regarding antenna problems click [Here]

Update: Some examples of phones that have a similar antenna issues
Samsung Galaxy S
Palm Pre
Google Nexus One
Google Droid
Nokia E71
Blackberry Bold

So I have been a bit under the weather and MOST of my previous blog posts all week were scheduled (Thank God for that option) – Thats why I havent been able to attend to comments and replying to them!

I have seen six doctors so far, last one was a couple of hours ago – DONT ASK!-

But I am feeling better day by day, so NO worries I am a strong girl and I can handle it! They did not call me iron woman for nothing

So hopefully I will get back to you all so soon For now, todalooooo

Another Lebanese place I passed by to try their burgers was Casper & Gambini’s. I had heard their burgers were good so I decided to try them out. I went to the Avenues branch on Saturday and it was empty except for another couple sitting behind us. The location was small but cozy and tucked away from all the weekend traffic. I found two kinds of burgers on their menu, I decided to order the one with the thick 200grams patty and I asked for it to be done medium.

When the burger arrived I noticed something strange. Instead of one 200gram patty there were two thinner patties stacked on top of one another. I guess they had run out of 200gram patties and decided to replace them with two 100gram patties? I tried to take my first bite and had problems. The burger buns were very dry and with the two patties stacked on top of another the burger was too high for me to bite into. After squeezing the burger hard I managed to take a bite. It was super dry. The burger was cooked well done and the patties tasted like the Khazan frozen ones (no offense to the Khazan burgers). Actually the burger taste reminded me of the burgers I used to order at the beach in Lebanon as a kid. The burgers were usually terrible but because you’ve been swimming and running around all day, by the time it’s lunch anything you eat at the beaches canteen ends up being delicious. Only problem in this case is I’m not 12, and this isn’t a beach canteen.

The final score is a 1.5 out of 5 and that’s mostly because the taste reminded me of my childhood.

For a list of Casper & Gambini’s locations click [Here]
The cost of the Gambini Burger was KD4.350

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Eighty 6 Bistro
Fauchon
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Let’s Burger
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

I haven’t purchased any new sneakers for nearly a year now. I didn’t know it was that long until I checked my previous posts and noticed the last time I ordered a pair were back in July. I now have three sneakers I’ve got my eyes on. I’ve already ordered the one above but still looking for a good deal on the ones below. As you can see, they’re a lot more toned down than my previous purchases. I’m also still on the look out for the Nike Air Force 1 X Clot but instead of the prices dropping they’ve now gone up to KD500 for a pair. Doesn’t look like I am ever going to own a pair of those…

In a feeble attempt to boost my blogging, I decided to check if I could blog from my iPod. Lo and behold, I can. I’m currently typing from my Touch, and to all you iPhone users, how the flipping hell do you type on this thing without not wanting to stomp it to a pulp? Alright, so the previous image isn’t exactly accurate, but you get the idea, right? Good.

I’m still on the hunt for a job, which sounds ridiculous seeing how I have no idea what the hell it is I want to do with my life. Off topic, but why the he’ll does my iPod automatically correct “hell” into “he’ll”? What gives, Apple?! Right, back to me being unemployed. Many say I should bask in the state of nothingness that I’ve been blessed with, but I can’t; the unproductively is gnawing slowly and ruthlessly. Off topic again, I won’t bother reading through his when I’m done; if the post’s riddled with typos, blame it on my darling iPod.

I guess that’s enough randomness for one post. It’s 5:30 AM, and I should at least pretend I’m going to sleep. Bonne nuit, et bonjour.

Till next time, world.

I personally think the food in Lebanon is a mixture of good and bad. We obviously do good Lebanese food, we also make some of the best pizza’s, we’ve got some really great crepes and most importantly we have the world’s best beer (Almaza FTW!). One thing we strangely don’t have is good burgers. For some reason no one has cracked a good burger in Lebanon. I’ve been recommended so many places and everyntime I try a burger there I am left disappointed. Let’s Burger is a Lebanese burger creation which I was hoping would break this cycle.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the menu is they had mayonnaise listed under the “5 Elements for a perfect burger”. That’s when I knew things weren’t going to end well. Mayonnaise??? I continued flipping through their menu and decided to go with the stuffed cheese burger. I wasn’t asked how I wanted the burger the burger done.

A short time later my burger arrived and I quickly took my first bite. Two things grabbed my attention. The first thing is, I liked the beef patty with the stuffed cheese inside. Because the cheese was all soft and gooey it made the beef patty very juicy. The second thing that grabbed my attention is the bun, it was cold and cracking. That meant the bun wasn’t fresh and was refrigerated. Cold bread + hot beef patty = Doesn’t work. Their sauce also wasn’t anything to write home about since although the description in the menu said grainy mustard mayo sauce, what I tasted was mostly just plain mayo.

For the final score I’m giving it a 2.5 out of 5. The patty was fine but they need to fix the bun issue, it shouldn’t be too hard to get fresh buns every morning delivered. They also really need to cut down on the mayo, not only is it not an important element in a good burger… it shouldn’t be on a burger period in the first place.

Let’s Burger is located at 360 Mall.
The cost of the Stuffed Cheeseburger was KD3.450

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Eighty 6 Bistro
Fauchon
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

My sister came in today from work with a…. Vuvuzela!!! Her friend got it from South Africa while there for the World Cup.

She was so happy playing with her new toy! I know its fun… and I am enjoying it… kinda!!

Lets just hope she wont get too carried away with it….

Or else… I will think of way to thank her “friend”! Hmmmmmmm

I was recommended by a couple of readers to try out the burger at the English Tea Lounge at Avenues phase II. It’s an ostrich burger and supposedly very good so I passed by today for lunch around 3pm to try it out. The place was empty with not a single person there so we had our pick of where to sit. We got the menu and I quickly flipped to the page with the burger on it. My sister was going to have a salad but Nat just wanted to drink tea.

Then Nat noticed the fine print at the bottom of every page which said that the minimum order per person had to be KD6. I told her that’s probably when its packed but not when it’s empty. I called the waitress over and asked her if this KD6 minimum charge was enforced? She said yes. I was like wait, so if me and my sister want to order lunch but Nat just tea we can’t do that? She said no it’s minimum KD6 per person. WTF? The place was empty with no one there!? It’s a TEA lounge! I told her fine and got up and left.

What a very disappointing experience. Didn’t even know restaurants with minimum charges still existed in Kuwait yet alone having it enforced in an empty place.

Rami El Chemaly one of the candidates in Star Academy 7 died yesterday in Egypt in a car accident. He was visiting his friend Mahmoud Shukri who also is in intensive care now.

God rest your soul in peace Rami and give your family the patience to go on. You’ll be missed.

Below is a video of Rami during his career path in Star Academy.

Saw these pieces at a low key shop in Prague that sells really really cool hand picked stuff.

Thought I’d share this with you guys.

Related posts:

1. Abdullah Likes: Oatmeal YUM ! Like Unlike...
2. Abdullah Likes: Schweppes This is amazing, its like they brought it back from...
3. Abdullah Likes: Laban AlWafra YUM ! Which reminds me of the Radio AD ”...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Posted by Nat

For the past 3 years I had been a member of Flex Health Club. Back when i first signed up to Flex it was one of nicest women only clubs in Kuwait. They had a good selection of professional fitness trainers and a schedule filled with challenging classes. The place was immaculately clean and not over crowded. The gym clientele was somewhat refined, everybody minded their own business and last but not least the membership fees were good as well (around KD550 per year depending on the season and the offers they had).

For around a year now things started going downhill. They started having a lot of promotions to entice more people to join and a lot more people did. They basically became a make as much money as possible by signing up as many people as we can try to fit gym. At some point the gym had more members then it could handle, the good trainers started leaving and their fitness classes were overflowing. Because there were so many new comers they stopped all the advanced classes and turned them into multi-level classes leaving long time members in disarray. Parking became a huge issue as well. I started parking my car 2 blocks away and walking for about 10 minutes to get to the gym.

Things kept going from bad to worse. I was getting checked out by chicks over there more than I was getting checked out by guys on the streets. They had daily AC problems, a major towel shortage (members were stealing them according to management) and nobody seemed to care.

In short, even though I loved working out and one of my favorite trainers was in Flex, I had had it and had to get the hell out asap.

Mark’s sister was a member at Al Corniche Club and got me a 4 day pass so I could check it out and it was love at first sight. I was very impressed with the professionalism and high standards of the place. I still had 3 months worth of membership at Flex but I didn’t care and signed up to Corniche in the beginning of June. A couples membership costs KD900 at Al Corniche so I just ended up paying KD450 for a yearly membership which was pretty decent.

The club is huge and really nicely designed. They have the advantage of a nice outdoor pool (pictured above), the lockers and showers area is huge and extremely clean. The gym is considerably big filled with every work out machine imaginable and topped off with a great view. They have a ton of clean towels available almost everywhere and a huge fridge filled with bottled water at the gym members disposal.

The trainers at Al Corniche are mostly from New Zealand and I really like the fact that they are all super duper fit which is a rare find in most gyms in Kuwait like Fahad had mentioned. Their class schedule consists of a wide variety of Les Mills classes ranging from toning to cardio classes. I’m not a big fan of Les Mills but the trainers at Al Corniche make the classes really enjoyable and challenging for everyone.

In the beginning I was a little worried about joining a mixed gym in Kuwait since I didn’t want to be checked out by guys the whole time while working out. But to my surprise everyone keeps to themselves which allows me to focus on my work outs.

Bottom line I’m really happy I joined Corniche. I do hope they maintain their current high standard as it would be really depressing if it just turned into another Flex.

Posted by Nat

Related posts:

1. Now Watching: Ouran High School Host Club This must be the most addictive/funny anime I’v seen ever….
2. Sultan Centre Brings Zexy Back Rememebr this ? I went to buy me some of…
3. Milky Sunday Morning Post Im craving cold milk, cold milk the moment I wake…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Related posts:

1. Now Watching: Ouran High School Host Club This must be the most addictive/funny anime I’v seen ever….
2. Sultan Centre Brings Zexy Back Rememebr this ? I went to buy me some of…
3. Milky Sunday Morning Post Im craving cold milk, cold milk the moment I wake…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Related posts:

1. Now Watching: Ouran High School Host Club This must be the most addictive/funny anime I’v seen ever....
2. Sultan Centre Brings Zexy Back Rememebr this ? I went to buy me some of...
3. Milky Sunday Morning Post Im craving cold milk, cold milk the moment I wake...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I am usually satisfied with the service center at BMW. I keep hearing people complaining about it non-stop, but I was never faced with any serious issues with them – Thank God

Well… except for the last time I was there!! They usually call me from a “Dubai” number and do a mini survey on the service and get my feedback, but unfortunately not this time!!

I took my car for service after some warning sign that came on a couple of times + oil and filter change. When I got my car back it wasnt clean! There wasnt any nylon sear cover, not their usual cleaning from the inside out!!

Usually, when I pick up my car after a service its cleaner and with paper mats! But not this time :-/

The windows were dirty actually, which was kind of upsetting! Specially when I am used to the opposite!!!

What went wrong BMW?

My favorite mountain bike brand is Cannondale and I’ve posted about the local Cannondale dealer a few times including on my Miskan blog 5 years ago. Thing is since I first got my bike in the winter of 2004 until now the dealer really hasn’t expanded, improved or changed in any way. It’s very sad and not sure why specially since more people bike today than they did 5 years ago. Maybe the dealer doesn’t care about the brand anymore but it’s very disappointing. I passed by yesterday to get my bike and Nat’s serviced and they didn’t even have transmission cables available. Luckily GoSport has a good collection of Shimano bike parts and so was able to pick up some cables from there and dropped them off to the dealer. The dealer don’t have many Cannondale bikes for sale as well, they had only 2 models available. I guess thats a good thing since if I did see a bike I liked I might have ended up buying it.

On the bright side I’m glad that GoSport carry a good collection of bike accessories and parts. Nothing hard core like Fox shocks or disc brakes upgrade kits but still a lot better than nothing. For everything else there is Amazon.

Fauchon isn’t one of those places that pops into mind when thinking about burgers but since a few people had recommended them I decided to give it a shot.

I passed by Fauchon at 360 Mall this weekend and ordered their Le Beef Burger a La Fauchon with classic fries on the side. According to the menu the patty is a prime US beef patty and comes with shredded cheddar cheese topped with their special dressing in their home made bun. The burger arrived and looked ok presentation wise except for the fact the whole thing looked kinda flat. When I first picked up the burger I noticed a problem and that was the bun was starting to fall apart. I hadn’t even taken my first bite so I realized that was going to be an issue. From that moment on I had to handle the burger very delicately at the risk of having the whole bun fall apart in my hand. After taking a few bites I realized two more things. First their special dressing tasted like a mix of cocktail sauce and salad dressing which doesn’t really belong on a burger. The second thing I realized is their beef patty might be the exact same ones I get from Sultan Center. Not a good thing since I’m not a fan of my home made burgers. The burger is pretty big and filling which is always a plus.

The final score for this burger is a 3 out of 5. One thing about this burger that I liked the most was the french fries that came on the side. They’re what I call hotel fries which is what I call fries that taste like ones you get from room service at hotels with a little portion of Heinz ketchup on the side. Price wise the burger cost KD4.450 which is fair for the fact it’s a burger at Fauchon although personally I don’t think it’s worth it since the burger wasn’t that great.

Fauchon is located at 360 Mall.
The cost of Le Beef Burger a La Fauchon was KD4.450

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Eighty 6 Bistro
Fauchon
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

Back in 2006 I got introduced to Sumajin’s Smartwraps that did an amazing job of tidying up my headphone wires. Since then though I’ve somehow managed to lose all my Smartwraps. Instead of ordering them again from Amazon I was wondering if 5 years later someone in Kuwait now sells these. Does anyone know if I can find Smartwraps in Kuwait?

My very kind, thoughtful, amazing, fabulous, wonderful, and did I say fabulous… friend Dana got us a whole box of Magnolia Bakery’s cupcakes!

I got those last night and indulged.. yes I DID because I started dieting today! So yeah… sue me

So yeah All for me… and none for you

I’ve been looking forward to trying the Eighty 6 Bistro burger for ages but I passed by a few months ago and didn’t have a reservation and got turned away. After that I figured it would be a hassle to pass by and never did until this past weekend. I passed by on Friday for lunch and to my surprise the place was empty. Like literally there was no table occupied. I thought that was strange but didn’t mind it since it meant I didn’t have to wait for a table to free up.

I sat down in one of the booths and started flipping through the menu. I was about to order their classic cheeseburger when I spotted something called the Bistro Burger. I asked the waiter what it was and he explained to me the burger came with lettuce, tomato, cheese, caramelized onions and mushrooms. He also said the patty what thicker than the classic cheeseburger and that was all I needed to hear. I ordered the Bistro Burger without the lettuce and tomato.

When the burger arrived the presentation looked good. It came on a long plate with a small pot filled with a few onion rings on one side, a small cup of fries on the other end and the juicy burger in between the two. I took a bite and noticed something, the caramelized onions were just overpowering the burger. I spent the rest of meal wishing I had ordered the burger with just the cheese. The bun was nice and soft, the onion rings and french fries although have no effect on this review were pretty bland.

Honestly, for a place that was empty during lunch time on a Friday at the most popular mall in Kuwait I was expecting the worst but I am glad that the burger turned out to be good. I decided to give it a 3.5 out of 5 and “might” have given it a 4 if I had ordered it with just the cheese. The cost of the burger is KD4.5 which is actually on the high side but I guess the fact that it comes with a side of onion rings and fries makes up for it. As I’ve mentioned before the price of the burger has no effect on the review or the final score.

Eighty 6 Bistro is located in the Avenues.
The cost of the Bistro Burger was KD4.500
For reservations call 22597961

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

I was featured on page 36 of AlRai Newspaper -Page 36- yesterday in P2BK Section

Link!

Thanks Her

A lot of phones have reception problems, you just never notice them. I had the E71 for a few months and never noticed this reception issue or had a reception issue. I am assuming once I have my iPhone 4 I also won’t notice any reception problems. [YouTube]

I knew Aziz long time ago, he is a dear friend. Im trying to pull out words or scenarios that brought us together, all I could think of is Laughter, literally, the moment I remember him, I get lots of flashbacks on how/when/where I fell down off of a couch or a sofa laughing hysterically. Aziz, the lil kim intro ? We wont go there, HAH!

Honestly though, Aziz is an artist, an energy field mashed up from all different sources of creativity, made into human form. He is that and lots of other things put together, but most of all he is extremely polite, very down to earth and just full of joy.

On a serious note, I remember how I enjoyed talking to him about religion, spirituality, society, Kuwait, friends and all that is big and beautiful, he gave me lots of mature answers, very open and honest. RARE. Indirectly, he taught me to never judge. It took me a while to understand this concept. I then slowly began to inhale everything without rejections or red flags. Thank You AZIZ.

One day, He showed me some of his paintings that were just jaw dropping and I thought how can he not have shown me this earlier ? I thought that this is what people should show off to the masses out there who are hungry for real, raw stuff that came from within. I thought this is one of the most beautiful pieces done by a Kuwaiti at the tender age of 18 (back then), he is 20 years young now. The energy, colors, expression used were evident. Sublime work.

See that ? Thats what Im talking about for the longest period. The only reason why I have people like Aziz here is to show you that talent exists even though major elements like having a mentor, a full fledged support system, over all awareness of what your doing, all of these are major elements of success, AZIZ didnt have any of that, still, he swam against the tides and MADE IT !

Aziz today is an artist, design consultant, graphic designer and a stylist. I am so proud of you and I wish I was a better friend. You are sincerely dear to me.

Enough of what I think or the impression I might give, get down and read what he has to say to yall. Oh and the boy is HAWT so please ladies/nasties, behave !

Aziz, talk !
I’m Aziz Al Mudhaf, 20 years old, born and raised in Kuwait. I guess I come from a very typical Kuwaiti background and upbringing yet ended up being quite the opposite somehow. I’ve attended government schools throughout my life so pretty much all of the knowledge I have in my fields of interest was self taught. I believe that if you have enough willpower and genuine interest in a subject matter, you can tackle and approach it using your own methods of learning. I find that my life revolves around art in its various forms; I love to paint, I love self-expression through fashion, I love and appreciate design details in pretty much everything. I’m a very analytical person in nature and I guess it works to my advantage in a lot of ways. I always try to observe and learn the formula of things, how everything is constructed… I think it helps in strengthening my attention to detail. Other things I love include anything that involves humor (a good laugh is the best), traveling, music (can’t live without it), film, psychology and general experimentation.

I’m currently studying Graphic Design at AUK, hopefully graduating next year. I’ve also been working at 4 (www.thenumber4.com) for almost a year. It’s been a great experience as I’ve been helping out with the store’s image, working closely with the team to grow and expand into a bigger space and develop our newly launched online store. I’ve also been working with my friend Aziz AlNasrallah as a design consultant, graphic designer and stylist for his fashion label (www.azizalnasrallah.com). These experiences have helped me channel my interest in art, design and fashion quite perfectly.

What was your childhood like ?
I used to love drawing certain cartoon characters when I was much younger. One of the characters that I loved to draw was Sonic the Hedgehog (maybe it was the mohawk?) I used to love collecting miniature sets of everything! – weird, I know. (Hot Wheels, Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, etc.) I used to be obsessed with The Mask (the cartoon) and Dexter’s Laboratory. At around 12 the internet pretty much gave me the tools to learn everything I wanted to, and that’s the source I credit for my English.

What differs you from the rest of the competition out there?
Art is extremely subjective and differs from one person’s point of view to the other, so I can’t really speak for myself in this case. I like my paintings to speak for themselves and hope that the viewer is receptive to my images.

What were the difficulties you faced and how did you overcome them ?
A lot of people weren’t supportive and I’ve swam against the tides many, many times. I learned to gradually filter all the negativity out and thicken my skin to people’s reactions. I currently have a space issue though as I paint in my bedroom so pretty much everything is covered in splats!

Talk about your big trip to Dubai where you art was chosen to be part of a big/prestigious art gallery ?
I took part in a collective group exhibition in Opera Gallery (Dubai branch) last summer and it was a fantastic experience. It was the first time I’d ever shown in an actual art gallery and it’s one of the most well known galleries in the world. The reaction to my paintings was extremely flattering as they were all sold to private collectors before the exhibition even started! What made me even happier was the fact that they were from very different ages/nationalities/backgrounds and I was ecstatic to see that they’d all formed a connection with my work without asking me a single question.

Remember when I kept my mouth open for a good 30 secs or so when you first showed me your paintings ? Creatively, how did you come up with these creations?
I think it’s just a manifestation of my daily life and struggles, frustrations, anger, lust, love and my interest in escapism. A lot of them are self referential and sometimes symbolic through the usage of colors and some subliminal messages. I mostly channel humanistic emotions in my paintings which is why I don’t like describing the concept behind them, I prefer to hear someone else’s analysis and background of the story without me saying a single word.

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now ?
Healthy and happy, I hope.

Throw something for p0ach readers.
I’ll part with one of my favorite quotes, I think I found it in your blog a long time ago.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss

Email: azizalmudhaf@gmail.com

Related posts:

1. Abdullah Interviews Abdullah Al-Mudhaf Friday is here again with its utmost blessings as always….
2. Abdullah Interviews Abdulwahab Al-Faris I am extremely happy and delighted with today’s big shining…
3. Abdullah Interviews Nouf Al-Mudhayan Journalism has always been a huge interest of mine on…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I knew Aziz long time ago, he is a dear friend. Im trying to pull out words or scenarios that brought us together, all I could think of is Laughter, literally, the moment I remember him, I get lots of flashbacks on how/when/where I fell down off of a couch or a sofa laughing hysterically. Aziz, the lil kim intro ? We wont go there, HAH!

Honestly though, Aziz is an artist, an energy field mashed up from all different sources of creativity, made into human form. He is that and lots of other things put together, but most of all he is extremely polite, very down to earth and just full of joy.

On a serious note, I remember how I enjoyed talking to him about religion, spirituality, society, Kuwait, friends and all that is big and beautiful, he gave me lots of mature answers, very open and honest. RARE. Indirectly, he taught me to never judge. It took me a while to understand this concept. I then slowly began to inhale everything without rejections or red flags. Thank You AZIZ.

One day, He showed me some of his paintings that were just jaw dropping and I thought how can he not have shown me this earlier ? I thought that this is what people should show off to the masses out there who are hungry for real, raw stuff that came from within. I thought this is one of the most beautiful pieces done by a Kuwaiti at the tender age of 18 (back then), he is 20 years young now. The energy, colors, expression used were evident. Sublime work.

See that ? Thats what Im talking about for the longest period. The only reason why I have people like Aziz here is to show you that talent exists even though major elements like having a mentor, a full fledged support system, over all awareness of what your doing, all of these are major elements of success, AZIZ didnt have any of that, still, he swam against the tides and MADE IT !

Aziz today is an artist, design consultant, graphic designer and a stylist. I am so proud of you and I wish I was a better friend. You are sincerely dear to me.

Enough of what I think or the impression I might give, get down and read what he has to say to yall. Oh and the boy is HAWT so please ladies/nasties, behave !

Aziz, talk !
I’m Aziz Al Mudhaf, 20 years old, born and raised in Kuwait. I guess I come from a very typical Kuwaiti background and upbringing yet ended up being quite the opposite somehow. I’ve attended government schools throughout my life so pretty much all of the knowledge I have in my fields of interest was self taught. I believe that if you have enough willpower and genuine interest in a subject matter, you can tackle and approach it using your own methods of learning. I find that my life revolves around art in its various forms; I love to paint, I love self-expression through fashion, I love and appreciate design details in pretty much everything. I’m a very analytical person in nature and I guess it works to my advantage in a lot of ways. I always try to observe and learn the formula of things, how everything is constructed… I think it helps in strengthening my attention to detail. Other things I love include anything that involves humor (a good laugh is the best), traveling, music (can’t live without it), film, psychology and general experimentation.

I’m currently studying Graphic Design at AUK, hopefully graduating next year. I’ve also been working at 4 (www.thenumber4.com) for almost a year. It’s been a great experience as I’ve been helping out with the store’s image, working closely with the team to grow and expand into a bigger space and develop our newly launched online store. I’ve also been working with my friend Aziz AlNasrallah as a design consultant, graphic designer and stylist for his fashion label (www.azizalnasrallah.com). These experiences have helped me channel my interest in art, design and fashion quite perfectly.

What was your childhood like ?
I used to love drawing certain cartoon characters when I was much younger. One of the characters that I loved to draw was Sonic the Hedgehog (maybe it was the mohawk?) I used to love collecting miniature sets of everything! – weird, I know. (Hot Wheels, Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, etc.) I used to be obsessed with The Mask (the cartoon) and Dexter’s Laboratory. At around 12 the internet pretty much gave me the tools to learn everything I wanted to, and that’s the source I credit for my English.

What differs you from the rest of the competition out there?
Art is extremely subjective and differs from one person’s point of view to the other, so I can’t really speak for myself in this case. I like my paintings to speak for themselves and hope that the viewer is receptive to my images.

What were the difficulties you faced and how did you overcome them ?
A lot of people weren’t supportive and I’ve swam against the tides many, many times. I learned to gradually filter all the negativity out and thicken my skin to people’s reactions. I currently have a space issue though as I paint in my bedroom so pretty much everything is covered in splats!

Talk about your big trip to Dubai where you art was chosen to be part of a big/prestigious art gallery ?
I took part in a collective group exhibition in Opera Gallery (Dubai branch) last summer and it was a fantastic experience. It was the first time I’d ever shown in an actual art gallery and it’s one of the most well known galleries in the world. The reaction to my paintings was extremely flattering as they were all sold to private collectors before the exhibition even started! What made me even happier was the fact that they were from very different ages/nationalities/backgrounds and I was ecstatic to see that they’d all formed a connection with my work without asking me a single question.

Remember when I kept my mouth open for a good 30 secs or so when you first showed me your paintings ? Creatively, how did you come up with these creations?
I think it’s just a manifestation of my daily life and struggles, frustrations, anger, lust, love and my interest in escapism. A lot of them are self referential and sometimes symbolic through the usage of colors and some subliminal messages. I mostly channel humanistic emotions in my paintings which is why I don’t like describing the concept behind them, I prefer to hear someone else’s analysis and background of the story without me saying a single word.

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now ?
Healthy and happy, I hope.

Throw something for p0ach readers.
I’ll part with one of my favorite quotes, I think I found it in your blog a long time ago.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss

Email: azizalmudhaf@gmail.com

Related posts:

1. Abdullah Interviews Abdullah Al-Mudhaf Friday is here again with its utmost blessings as always....
2. Abdullah Interviews Abdulwahab Al-Faris I am extremely happy and delighted with today’s big shining...
3. Abdullah Interviews Nouf Al-Mudhayan Journalism has always been a huge interest of mine on...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1. Final Fantasy 13 – March 9, 2010 I wake in the morning, tired of sleeping Get in...
2. On the radio, uh-oh! This is how it works: It feels a little worse...

1. Everything is wrong with this cover. ...
2. Don’t scratch my back, I don’t even want to see yours. It’s no secret that blogging is an entirely different creature...

Since I can have burgers as part of my diet, the burger challenge is back on. My diet says no cheese but once a week I will break it and order my burger with cheese since I am already sacrificing. This weekend I was at Slider Station and I didn’t have the chocolate pudding. Anyone who has had the chocolate pudding there would know how difficult it is to resist but I did it. That was on Saturday, Friday I passed by Nino. I wasn’t planning on trying their burger out but since everything else they had including the grilled stuff had butter in them I decided to go with the burger (salad on the side instead of fries).

I went with the Con Formaggio Burger which is their cheese burger. There is no egg in it even though it looks like it in the picture above, that’s just white and yellow cheese. No one asked me how I wanted my burger done.

I got my burger a short while later and noticed 3 slices of tomatoes under the meat patty which I quickly proceeded to remove since tomatoes sog up the bun. That’s when I also realized they had chopped cabbage underneath tomato mixed with mayonnaise dressing. I quickly proceeded to remove those as well since they shouldn’t be in a gourmet burger. I don’t mind them in a cheap Lebanese style burger that also contains french fries over the thin frozen patty, but on a burger like this, it just feels out of place.

I put my ketchup and took my first bite. The bun is pretty good, soft and tasty. The patty on the other hand was dry. The burger was slightly messy to eat since even though I removed the tomato and mayo cabbage right away it wasn’t fast enough since the bottom bun got soggy. I struggled to come up with a score for it but in the end decided on a 3. I was going to go with a 2.5 but the bun was really good. I guess they’re lucky I’m on a low carb diet and crave bread more than burgers right now (I have dreams of the chocolate bread at The Meat Co.). The price of the burger was reasonable costing KD2.950 but even though I don’t think I would have it again.

Nino is located on the Gulf Road and Avenues.
The cost of the Con Formaggio Burger was KD2.950

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

I like ice cream and popcorn… TOGETHER!

Yes, I know… I like the confusing signals on my taste buds!

Specially when its soft vanilla ice cream and salted popcorn! But that doesnt mean I mind mixing it with sweet popcorn

For now I have Marble Slab’s Nutty Butter (half melted) and Garrett’s Caramel Popcorn

What!!! I was half way though it when I thought of this post… so yeah, its kinda gone

I have been featured on The Avenues Q&A Check it out (link)

Come one now, enough ok ?

Just incase yall are wondering what im talkin about, check this, it happened again x 12 “literally”, LAWWWD HAVE MERCY !

Deal with your drama, act like grown ups, who am i anyway ? why would I have the answers to your problems ?

I love you but thats not appropriate.

Call her !

Related posts:

1. Abdullah is not your LUV Doc I have been blessed from day one on this blog…
2. Viva’s Abdullah Why all the craziness over on the BB, emails…
3. Review: Blackberry Bold 9700 Our new friends, Orbit Fone are beyond amazing with…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Come one now, enough ok ?

Just incase yall are wondering what im talkin about, check this, it happened again x 12 “literally”, LAWWWD HAVE MERCY !

Deal with your drama, act like grown ups, who am i anyway ? why would I have the answers to your problems ?

I love you but thats not appropriate.

Call her !

Related posts:

1. Abdullah is not your LUV Doc I have been blessed from day one on this blog...
2. Viva’s Abdullah Why all the craziness over on the BB, emails and...
3. Review: Blackberry Bold 9700 Our new friends, Orbit Fone are beyond amazing with their...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I love love love this choco, got it from their store located in 360 Mall, ground floor.

While your there grab their strawberry or choco shake, to die, strangle, go koko and suicidal for !

Related posts:

1. Abdullah Likes: Fauchon Raspberry Macaroons Eat this and DIE ! Like Unlike…
2. Fluffy Choco Sunday Morning Post Yesterday I had some of this lovely fluffy choco cake…
3. World Famous: Sacher Cake I promised you some reviews from my european tour. This…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I love love love this choco, got it from their store located in 360 Mall, ground floor.

While your there grab their strawberry or choco shake, to die, strangle, go koko and suicidal for !

Related posts:

1. Abdullah Likes: Fauchon Raspberry Macaroons Eat this and DIE ! Like Unlike...
2. Fluffy Choco Sunday Morning Post Yesterday I had some of this lovely fluffy choco cake...
3. World Famous: Sacher Cake I promised you some reviews from my european tour. This...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

As part of my diet I need to have grilled food for dinner and since Turkish Grill belongs to a friend of a friend, I’ve been passing by there 90% of the time for my dinner. The problem is, 100 meters down the street from Turkish Grill lies Papa John’s. It’s extremely extremely difficult to choose grilled chicken over pizza and having Papa John’s right next to Turkish Grill is proving to be a test of my will EVERY DAY!

I enjoy staring at delicious chocolate muffins in the face and saying NO! I enjoy craving a molten chocolate cake from Chili’s and resisting it. But right after the gym when I am really hungry it’s not as easy. So far from the dozens and dozens of times I’ve passed by Turkish Grill I’ve only cheated once with a medium pizza all to myself. Today I cheated although not as badly, I had tabbouleh with the dressing and I loved it. After having tabbouleh and salad this whole week without any dressing at all (something which I do not recommend anyone trying), the tabbouleh tonight was the best tabbouleh I ever had in my life. I really miss the lemon and oil dressing.

Now to make things worse I was talking to Essa from Choowy Goowy earlier and told him to send over two jars of cookies, the original and the Mark & Nat since Nataly wanted to shoot the jars for her portfolio. I told him to shove the jars with date cookies since I hate date cookies and that way I don’t end up eating them. Guess what? I got home to find two jars stuffed with freshly made original chocolate chip cookies and the Mark & Nat Oreo cookies. I just spent the past 15 minutes swearing at him on BBM. Luckily Nat has hid the jars somewhere in the house and since I just got back from the gym I am too sore and exhausted to go look for them.

While in New York I picked up the Elgato video capture device for my Mac. Basically it allows me to connect regular RCA and S-Video cables to my Mac which I can then use to convert analogue video like old VHS and Betamax tapes to digital. I have a ton of old videos from the 80’s I want to start converting to digital and sharing on this blog. My issue is the Betamax tapes, does anyone know where I can get a hold of a Betamax player here in Kuwait?

While in New York I picked up the Elgato video capture device for my Mac. Basically it allows me to connect regular RCA and S-Video cables to my Mac which I can then use to convert analogue video like old VHS and Betamax tapes to digital. I have a ton of old videos from the 80’s I want to start converting to digital and sharing on this blog. My issue is the Betamax tapes, does anyone know where I can get a hold of a Betamax player here in Kuwait?

Since we’re on the subject of health and fitness, yesterday I picked up my new diet plan from Fahad. It’s a lot tougher and he’s added an extra work out day bringing it up my work out days to four. They’ve also increased my weights considerably and are going to be giving me a harder time at the gym. My new diet plan also includes supplements for the first time. I will be taking two supplements, Whey Protein Isolates and Ripped Fuel. Whey Protein from what I understand and have read will help me considerably in a variety of ways from helping me grow and repair my muscles to strengthening my immune system. Ripped Fuel on the other hand will help me burn fat, give me an energy boost and also help me gain lean muscle mass. I got both these supplements from Souk Sharq from the shop across from Nokia. Whey Protein was KD25 while Ripped Fuel was KD20.

Below is my new diet plan, you will notice it now includes burgers. Not any burgers though, I can’t have McDonalds or Johnny Rockets for example, it’s got to be better quality burgers like from Burger Boutique, Slider Station, Applebee’s and Chili’s. I tried the Chili’s burger today with a side order of broccoli and I have to say that’s the most horrible side order I have ever had with a burger. If I ever had a burger nightmare that would have been it. On the bright side I did have a burger.

Here is the diet plan:

WORKOUT DAYS

8:00 am: Upon Waking:
500ml of Water + 2 capsules of Ripped Fuel

8:45: BREAKFAST
2 Egg Sausage McMuffins (No orange juice)

11:15 – Snack
1 scoop of ON’s 100% Whey Protein mixed w/ water

1:30: Lunch
Option 1: 1 Burger (double patty), no cheese, no mayo + salad w/out dressing
Option 2: 1 edamame w/out salt, 6 pieces of maki, 9 pieces of sashimi
Option 3: 1 Shish Tawook or Tikka Meat, small hummus w/out oil, 1/2 white bread, tabboula without dressing

4:00 – 2 capsules of Ripped Fuel

5:00: SNACK
1 scoop of ON’s 100% Whey Protein mixed w/ water

8:00 – 8:20: WORKOUT + 10 minutes of cardio

Immediately After Training:
1 scoop of ON’s 100% Whey Protein mixed w/ water

60 Minutes Later:
No carb, low fat, high protein, high veggie dinner

_____________________________________________

NON-WORKOUT DAYS

8:00 am: Upon Waking:
500ml of Water + 2 capsules of Ripped Fuel

8:45: BREAKFAST
2 Egg McMuffins (No orange juice)

11:15 – Snack
1 scoop of ON’s 100% Whey Protein mixed w/ water

1:30: Lunch
Option 1: 1 Burger (double patty), no cheese, no mayo + salad w/out dressing
Option 2: 1 edamame w/out salt, 6 pieces of maki, 9 pieces of sashimi
Option 3: 1 Shish Tawook or Tikka Meat, small hummus w/out oil, 1/2 white bread, tabboula without dressing

4:00 – 2 capsules of Ripped Fuel

5:00: SNACK
1 scoop of ON’s 100% Whey Protein mixed w/ water

8:00 – Dinner
No carb, low fat, high protein, high veggie dinner

12:00 – Late Night Snack
1 scoop of ON’s 100% Whey Protein mixed w/ water

Posted by Nat

If anyone from Al Corniche Club reads this blog, I have a tip. The lounge chairs and tables around the pool are made of metal which is very unpractical when its 50°C! They should be made of plastic or wood instead.

I spent the whole time today trying to avoid having my arms and legs touch the sides of the chair so that I don’t get burnt. The chair was almost as hot as an iron! The person who got these chairs for Corniche has obviously never been to the beach yet alone a beach club in Kuwait in the midst of summer.

Besides that it’s pretty relaxing during the weekdays, very quiet and peaceful. I just need to make sure to cover my seat including the side arms with lots of towels.

PS: One more thing, according to Google, alcornicheclub.com might harm my computer?

Posted by Nat

La nuit de l’homme by Yves Saint Laurent is one of the best perfumes I’ve ever tried. It really suits my skin and I just love it, the smell is just fresh and seductive. I recommend you guys to try it!

As most of you might have noticed, while in New York I ate a lot of burgers. Many people thought I was actually posting too many food posts but they would have been a lot more if I posted about all the burger places I went to. Before going to New York I had a list of around 60 burger places I wanted to try out which I got from the blog A Hamburger Today and even though I didn’t even get close to trying out 60 burger places I did have on average two burgers a day while in New York. And guess what? I lost weight!

Before I went on vacation I spoke to Fahad and I told him that there was no way I could eat healthy on my trip. It was New York and I wasn’t going to spend my time looking for something healthy to eat. He told me as long as I was going to do a lot of walking than I could eat whatever I wanted as long as the proportions weren’t too big. He told me I also had to have a meal every 3 hours. I could also have dessert if I wanted but it couldn’t be part of my main meal, it would have to be counted as a meal on its own. So if I had a burger at 12PM I could have an ice cream at 3PM. I thought that was fair and took his advice.

My morning started off either with a big breakfast from a cozy diner near my hotel or a McGriddle from McDonalds. I stuck to places near my hotel since I needed to have breakfast an hour after waking up. That would happen around 9 or 10am. Then, 3 hours later I would have a burger, 3 hours after that dessert (usually a chocolate cone from Pinkberry or a cookie from a bakery), 3 hours after that another burger and finally my last meal at night would be dinner at one of the trendy restaurants near my hotel.

I rarely had fries with my burger, I think I only had fries 3 times on my trip. I would also always order only 1 burger but sometimes it would be a double patty. One great thing (or it could be a bad thing) about New York is the fact I think by law they need to display the calorie count of everything on the menu. So one time I was at Wendy’s for example and I felt like a double bacon and cheese but then noticed the calorie count and decided to go with a regular double cheese burger instead. I think the calorie count helped me save a ton of calories. It was also one major reason I didn’t have french fries with my burgers since if I did the calorie count of my meal would double. I also went with Coke Zero over regular Coke since that was another easy 200-300 calorie saving.

I walked a lot, around 12 hours and the only time I took a cab was to and from the airport. I was using the subway mostly and it was mostly from Brooklyn where I was staying to Manhattan which is where everything was located. While there I walked everywhere and only took the subway if I was in a rush like to catch a store before they closed. One night I walked back to my hotel even which was around a 8-9KM walk according to Google Maps.

The result? I left Kuwait weighing 77KG and I came back weighing 76KG. I thought I had lost more weight but I am not disappointed losing only a KG with the food I was eating. Now that the vacation is over and I’ve returned to Kuwait I’m eating healthy again and today was my first time back at the gym since I left. Until my next burger rampage…

Just got back from New York earlier tonight. Nearly got a heart attack at the airport when picking up my luggage. I realized all my bags locks were missing and that my laptop which I had shoved between two pockets in one of my bags was gone. Turns out JFK security must have broken all the locks and searched through the bags because I found my laptop but it was placed in a different location. So far doesn’t look like anything is missing but that was pretty scary though.

Paul Eluard

A new study published by professors at the Harvard Business School shows that angel-backed companies are more likely to succeed and show more growth than those funded by venture firms alone. Researched and written by William Kerr and Josh Lerner, the report found that companies with angel funding see between 30% and 50% higher growth figures in terms of website traffic, are more likely to survive for four years, and are also in a better position to receive further rounds of funding. Sponsor Angel investing itself has seen large growth over the last several months with the creation of various organizations, events, firms and legislation to spur it on. We’ve discussed the Open Angel Forum series of events, the creation of “Super Angel” firms , the curated Venture Hacks AngelList , as well as current legislation both helping and hurting angel investments. Angel investing has become more common, and as this report shows, this is largely due to the value and success it tends to breed. But why are angel investments the secret sauce for some companies? As the report points out, its the intangibles that angels bring to the table that could be playing a large role in company success. “Access to capital per se may not be the most important value-added that angel groups bring. Some of the ’softer’ features, such as angels’ mentoring or business contacts, may help new ventures the most,” the report says. One of the other reasons that companies could tend to be more successful with angel funding is because of the human face placed on the investments. Angels are usually investing in companies at an early stage, and are investing their own capital in the company. Entrepreneurs may be more likely to work that extra bit harder when they know they are playing with the personal cash of an actual person, not the collected funds of an entire firm without a human name. The reputation of the angel could play a large role as well, both for the attitude of the people running the company, and for the audience they are looking to attract. Most angels tend to be successful entrepreneurs themselves, and thus are likely well known in the startup scene. The chance to sit and talk with these investors, let alone receiving funding from them, is likely a treat for most entrepreneurs, so they may be more likely to be more careful with their money. Additionally, when the public hears of a new startup that may not immediately interest them, the mention of particular angel investors can change their mind. As angel investors mature, they build their own personal portfolio of companies they noticed and provided early funds for, so when company XYZ launches with angel funding from an influential angel investor, that alone can attract people to the product. I know personally that I have looked into startups I otherwise would have largely ignored simply because an important angel investor was certain they’d be a hit. “Some of the ’softer’ features, such as angels’ mentoring or business contacts, may help new ventures the most.” – Harvard Business School report Since some companies receive early financing rounds from angels, it is also logical to assume that when working with a limited amount of cash, the entrepreneurs may be more focused on doing more with less. A company that bursts out of the gate with large amounts of VC firm funding may spend it slightly more haphazardly, whereas a company running on limited angel funds may adopt leaner practices and take baby steps toward success and future funding. As the report mentioned above, the “softer” features provided by the angels are also a large help to the companies. In his email newsletter yesterday, angel investor Jason Calacanis discussed loyalty and how he goes to bat for the people who are loyal to him and his companies. He mentioned that whenever he invests in a company, he immediately becomes an evangelist for that company and it’s founders, doing all he can to promote it. This may not be the same for all angels, but when influential investors like Jason get behind your company, they do their best to make sure good things happen. I would be interested to see similar data from this report that compares companies with solely angel funding versus those with more traditional VC firm funding mixed in. The influence of angel investors is significant, but I would think the angels alone are not enough to create more successful businesses at a higher rate. But the lesson here is, if your startup has the opportunity to include some angel investors (especially at the early stages), it would seem like a wise decision to go ahead with. Photo by Flickr user Brooke Anderson . Discuss

Excerpt from:
Angel-Backed Companies More Likely to Succeed, Says Harvard Study

A new study published by professors at the Harvard Business School shows that angel-backed companies are more likely to succeed and show more growth than those funded by venture firms alone. Researched and written by William Kerr and Josh Lerner, the report found that companies with angel funding see between 30% and 50% higher growth figures in terms of website traffic, are more likely to survive for four years, and are also in a better position to receive further rounds of funding. Sponsor Angel investing itself has seen large growth over the last several months with the creation of various organizations, events, firms and legislation to spur it on. We’ve discussed the Open Angel Forum series of events, the creation of “Super Angel” firms , the curated Venture Hacks AngelList , as well as current legislation both helping and hurting angel investments. Angel investing has become more common, and as this report shows, this is largely due to the value and success it tends to breed. But why are angel investments the secret sauce for some companies? As the report points out, its the intangibles that angels bring to the table that could be playing a large role in company success. “Access to capital per se may not be the most important value-added that angel groups bring. Some of the ’softer’ features, such as angels’ mentoring or business contacts, may help new ventures the most,” the report says. One of the other reasons that companies could tend to be more successful with angel funding is because of the human face placed on the investments. Angels are usually investing in companies at an early stage, and are investing their own capital in the company. Entrepreneurs may be more likely to work that extra bit harder when they know they are playing with the personal cash of an actual person, not the collected funds of an entire firm without a human name. The reputation of the angel could play a large role as well, both for the attitude of the people running the company, and for the audience they are looking to attract. Most angels tend to be successful entrepreneurs themselves, and thus are likely well known in the startup scene. The chance to sit and talk with these investors, let alone receiving funding from them, is likely a treat for most entrepreneurs, so they may be more likely to be more careful with their money. Additionally, when the public hears of a new startup that may not immediately interest them, the mention of particular angel investors can change their mind. As angel investors mature, they build their own personal portfolio of companies they noticed and provided early funds for, so when company XYZ launches with angel funding from an influential angel investor, that alone can attract people to the product. I know personally that I have looked into startups I otherwise would have largely ignored simply because an important angel investor was certain they’d be a hit. “Some of the ’softer’ features, such as angels’ mentoring or business contacts, may help new ventures the most.” – Harvard Business School report Since some companies receive early financing rounds from angels, it is also logical to assume that when working with a limited amount of cash, the entrepreneurs may be more focused on doing more with less. A company that bursts out of the gate with large amounts of VC firm funding may spend it slightly more haphazardly, whereas a company running on limited angel funds may adopt leaner practices and take baby steps toward success and future funding. As the report mentioned above, the “softer” features provided by the angels are also a large help to the companies. In his email newsletter yesterday, angel investor Jason Calacanis discussed loyalty and how he goes to bat for the people who are loyal to him and his companies. He mentioned that whenever he invests in a company, he immediately becomes an evangelist for that company and it’s founders, doing all he can to promote it. This may not be the same for all angels, but when influential investors like Jason get behind your company, they do their best to make sure good things happen. I would be interested to see similar data from this report that compares companies with solely angel funding versus those with more traditional VC firm funding mixed in. The influence of angel investors is significant, but I would think the angels alone are not enough to create more successful businesses at a higher rate. But the lesson here is, if your startup has the opportunity to include some angel investors (especially at the early stages), it would seem like a wise decision to go ahead with. Photo by Flickr user Brooke Anderson . Discuss

Excerpt from:
Angel-Backed Companies More Likely to Succeed, Says Harvard Study

A new study published by professors at the Harvard Business School shows that angel-backed companies are more likely to succeed and show more growth than those funded by venture firms alone. Researched and written by William Kerr and Josh Lerner, the report found that companies with angel funding see between 30% and 50% higher growth figures in terms of website traffic, are more likely to survive for four years, and are also in a better position to receive further rounds of funding. Sponsor Angel investing itself has seen large growth over the last several months with the creation of various organizations, events, firms and legislation to spur it on. We’ve discussed the Open Angel Forum series of events, the creation of “Super Angel” firms , the curated Venture Hacks AngelList , as well as current legislation both helping and hurting angel investments. Angel investing has become more common, and as this report shows, this is largely due to the value and success it tends to breed. But why are angel investments the secret sauce for some companies? As the report points out, its the intangibles that angels bring to the table that could be playing a large role in company success. “Access to capital per se may not be the most important value-added that angel groups bring. Some of the ’softer’ features, such as angels’ mentoring or business contacts, may help new ventures the most,” the report says. One of the other reasons that companies could tend to be more successful with angel funding is because of the human face placed on the investments. Angels are usually investing in companies at an early stage, and are investing their own capital in the company. Entrepreneurs may be more likely to work that extra bit harder when they know they are playing with the personal cash of an actual person, not the collected funds of an entire firm without a human name. The reputation of the angel could play a large role as well, both for the attitude of the people running the company, and for the audience they are looking to attract. Most angels tend to be successful entrepreneurs themselves, and thus are likely well known in the startup scene. The chance to sit and talk with these investors, let alone receiving funding from them, is likely a treat for most entrepreneurs, so they may be more likely to be more careful with their money. Additionally, when the public hears of a new startup that may not immediately interest them, the mention of particular angel investors can change their mind. As angel investors mature, they build their own personal portfolio of companies they noticed and provided early funds for, so when company XYZ launches with angel funding from an influential angel investor, that alone can attract people to the product. I know personally that I have looked into startups I otherwise would have largely ignored simply because an important angel investor was certain they’d be a hit. “Some of the ’softer’ features, such as angels’ mentoring or business contacts, may help new ventures the most.” – Harvard Business School report Since some companies receive early financing rounds from angels, it is also logical to assume that when working with a limited amount of cash, the entrepreneurs may be more focused on doing more with less. A company that bursts out of the gate with large amounts of VC firm funding may spend it slightly more haphazardly, whereas a company running on limited angel funds may adopt leaner practices and take baby steps toward success and future funding. As the report mentioned above, the “softer” features provided by the angels are also a large help to the companies. In his email newsletter yesterday, angel investor Jason Calacanis discussed loyalty and how he goes to bat for the people who are loyal to him and his companies. He mentioned that whenever he invests in a company, he immediately becomes an evangelist for that company and it’s founders, doing all he can to promote it. This may not be the same for all angels, but when influential investors like Jason get behind your company, they do their best to make sure good things happen. I would be interested to see similar data from this report that compares companies with solely angel funding versus those with more traditional VC firm funding mixed in. The influence of angel investors is significant, but I would think the angels alone are not enough to create more successful businesses at a higher rate. But the lesson here is, if your startup has the opportunity to include some angel investors (especially at the early stages), it would seem like a wise decision to go ahead with. Photo by Flickr user Brooke Anderson . Discuss

Excerpt from:
Angel-Backed Companies More Likely to Succeed, Says Harvard Study

At last week’s F8 developers’ conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled plans to offer “instant personalization” all over the web , a way for websites to become instantly more social. Without even signing in, sites gain access to publicly available Facebook information like your name, profile picture, friend list and more, in order to personalize your experience on the site. At launch, only three partner sites are offering this feature: Microsoft’s new Docs.com , Internet radio Pandora and user review site Yelp . You can opt-out of this experience if you like, but by default, you’re opted in. Sponsor These changes have raised concerns among privacy advocates and are even now being questioned by government officials like U.S. Senator Charles Schumer who is urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into how social networks handle our private information. And yet… and yet …after spending the weekend on these “instantly personalized” sites, I have to admit…begrudgingly, mind you…that the experience itself is amazing. Online Music Gets Personal, Too Personal? Pandora’s Internet radio is a service I usually partake of via its mobile application on my iPhone, not its regular website. But after the launch of the newly personalized Pandora , I had to take a look. And it was worth it. I immediately discovered which of my friends had the same musical interests as I do. My editor, Richard MacManus, for example, is also a fan of The Killers! Who knew? And apparently, a whole bunch of friends are getting into MGMT now. But finding connections like these aren’t the only types of discoveries you can make here. As social media user extraordinaire Robert Scoble found out , you can easily discover your friends’ more embarrassing personal tastes too. Kenny G?, Scoble laughingly chides a co-worker after stumbling upon his decidedly unhipster musical interests. These are precisely the types of things we want to stay hidden. Kenny G, for instance. But also our secret obsession with that attractive actor or actress, our fondness for pictures of cute kitties, our forays into celebrity gossip sites when we have a reputation for being intelligent thinkers, our secret Star Wars addiction and so forth and so on. While there aren’t ” instantly personalized ” sites showing you all these types of interests just yet, believe me, there will be. If Facebook has its way (and guess what? It will), your real identity , not just the public parts you’ve willingly shared in the past, will be revealed to anyone and everyone unless you take action to opt-out. The Real You Can No Longer Be Hidden This is precisely as it should be, Facebook CEO Zuckberberg, more or less said. Earlier this year, he made statements regarding Facebook’s new openness, claiming that if he built the social network now, he would make a lot of the data housed there more public by default. This would reflect the current social norms, he said. But that’s not exactly true. Facebook isn’t reflecting social norms, it’s attempting to create them. That said, what an amazing creation it is. On Yelp, I can find the reviews my Facebook friends authored with just a click. I can see who else really digs that local sushi place. And I can do all this without going through the whole “re-friending” process that Web 2.0 sites have put me through in the past again and again. I’m there, my friends are there, and I didn’t have to do anything to make that happen. Frankly, it feels right. (Fellow ReadWriteWeb blogger Mike Melanson agrees .) A Minute on the Lips… But it’s oh so wrong, isn’t it? By giving into to Facebook’s vision for the web, we’re ceding control of our data, our likes, our interests, our “social graph” (aka who we know, who we friend) – everything – to one company. Historically , one very, very closed company . We’re definitely worried about the implications of that. You should be too. But in the meantime, like that calorie-rich dessert we know we shouldn’t eat, we’re sampling Facebook’s web and secretly savoring its deliciousness. Why does everything that’s so wrong have to feel so good? Blast you, Facebook. Blast you. Discuss

See the rest here:
Giving in to Facebook: A Weekend on the New "Instantly Personalized" Web (Op-Ed)

I’m not really sure if anyone still reads my blog. I don’t really blame you if you don’t. I barely update, and when I do it’s either depressing or inane. Or both?

Leaving you with a song I’m currently obsessed with; the amazing Sia’s “Clap Your Hands”. You’ll enjoy the video too, it’s quite a trip! Enjoy.

Till next time, world.