Kendaraan Mewah Para Raja

Di 360° mall berlangsung pameran kendaraan-kendaraan mewah raja Kuwait terdahulu. Koleksinya dari Chrysler Imperial, Ford Continental sampai dengan Rolls Royce.

King Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Ford Continental 1956

Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah
Chrysler Imperial 1956

Qaboos Bin Said Al Said
Studs 1978

Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Mercedes 300 Adenaur 1956

Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Al Sabah
Ford Continental 1962

Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah
Rolls Royce Phantom 5 Limo 1960

Pameran berlangsung dari tgl 15 Februari sampai dengan 5 Maret.

Karnaval Kuwait!

Setelah menyaksikan rekaman video fireworks di Kuwait Towers sebelumnya, kami menyempatkan diri menunggu iring2an karnaval di Gulf Road.







Sejujurnya, karnavalnya sendiri rada garing. Dari segi penampilan terlihat buru-buru & ala kadarnya. Tidak ada marching band atau iring-iringan hiburan berjalan seperti biasa terlihat di karnaval. Kami juga tidak mendapatkan kesan khas budaya Kuwait di karnaval ini. Bayangannya bakal ada mobil hias yang ditutup kain SADU khas Kuwait atau atraksi burung-burung elang. Beberapa kendaraan malah hanya sekedar ditempel gambar raja begitu saja.

Tapi, kami mendapatkan pengalaman unik hari ini. Krucil terlihat excited. Terlebih lagi bersama dengan masyarakat Kuwaiti ini kami turut merasakan hingar bingar keramaian mereka. Keluarga-keluarga Kuwaiti di sekitar kami terlihat senang dengan kehadiran wajah-wajah Asia Tenggara di tengah mereka. Krucil beberapa kali jadi pusat perhatian terutama Neo, pipinya dicubitin melulu sama pria-pria arab. Leia & Arwen beberapa kali jadi sasaran kamera mereka. Dan yang terpenting, mereka tidak keberatan jadi sasaran kamera kami! Hahaaa!

Krucil jadi sasaran kamera mereka

Dan keluarga-keluarga Kuwaiti pun juga tidak keberatan jadi sasaran kamera kami

Maklum turis, it's always fun watching other countries' festivity.

No Party Foam Sprayer But Is It Safe Now?

No party foam sprayer this year in Kuwait National Day celebration, but now people bring water super soaker. So is it more safe now? I don't think so. We still need to protect ourself by closing the car window or wearing raincoat. Otherwise, prepare to get wet. And our kids are more scared :P



Related story:
- Pesta kemerdekaan Kuwait di Salem Mubarak

Happy Birthday Kuwait

Original photo

Snapshot: Girl with Kuwait National Day Costume

Cute!

The Festivity of Kuwait National Day

Photo by Bayu Adji:
Original link here.











UPDATE:

Some awesome pictures from the Kuwait Tower fireworks by Tid Bid Du Jour (click to enlarge)





Full video (49 minutes) by irelandii

Hiruk Pikuk Hari Kemerdekaan Kuwait

15:00 Suasana di City Center Salmiya beberapa orang mempersiapkan kendaraannya untuk arak-arakan keliling kota.



19:07 Suasana 5th ring road menuju City Center yang dipadati kendaraan arak-arakan. Beberapa malah berhenti di tengah jalan & tampak beberapa orang menari-nari di jalanan & di atas mobil mereka.



21:15 Suasana jalanan 5th ring road dari jendela apartemen kami masih hingar bingar terdengar terompet & sirene polisi.



21:30 Ada fireworks dari Rumaithiya!

Related story:
- Lampu Sorot di Bayan Palace
- Pesta kemerdekaan Kuwait di Salem Mubarak
- Pernak pernik kemerdekaan Kuwait
- Banner Kuwait

Cantiknya Lampu Sorot di Depan Bayan Palace

Menyambut kemeriahan hari kemerdekaan, Kuwait sibuk berhias diri. Salah satunya konfigurasi puluhan (atau ratusan?) lampu sorot di Bayan Palace samping 5th ring road. Amazing euy.

Panorama 360º Marina Jogging Track

Klik untuk lihat panorama 360º & lokasinya.

Snapshot:Jogging & Running

Mamin berolahraga jogging di Marina, Salmiya.

Makan Siang di Anita Bakso

Bertahun-tahun lalu saat masih di RCTI, makan siang bareng temen kerja di luar kantor atau mall dengan menu makanan Indonesia adalah ritual normal.
Sekarang, setelah jauh di Kuwait, akhirnya bisa lagi mengulang ritual yang sama: makan siang bareng temen kerja eks RCTi di luar kantor dengan menu (pause sejenak. wait for it) makanan Indonesia!

Satu lagi restoran Indonesia di buka di sebuah mall di Farwaniya, tepatnya di Makhateer mall (lihat lokasi). Terletak di lantai 3, bersebelahan dengan beberapa restoran lain seperti Shrimpy & Pizza Hut serta restoran-restoran Filipino.



Pilihan hidangan yang disajikan juga sangat variatif, dari mie yamin, nasi goreng sampai dengan ketoprak tersedia. Favorit Papin adalah es campur. Beneran berasa lagi makan di kantin koperasi RCTI jaman dulu.









Dengan makin banyaknya restoran Indonesia, semakin tidak terasa kalau kami tidak jauh dari kampung halaman. Semoga restorannya langgeng dan sukses!


Same old ritual: berangkat, makan, pulang tidur di mobil.


Lokasi:

View Mahateer Complex 1 and 2 Bldg in a larger map

GPS
29.279648
47.961792


Related post:
- Warung bakso di Old Salmiya
- Restoran Mama Lala

Ada Seven Eleven Palsu di Farwaniya

Warung Bakso di Old Salmiya

Nun di sebuah apartemen tua di Old Salmiya, di balik salah satu pintu lorong ini ada warung MIE BAKSO!



Warung ini adalah flat milik Mbak Santi & Mas Samsul, menyediakan menu mie bakso dengan mie & bakso olahan sendiri. Rasanya sendiri tidak jauh beda dengan bakso di komplek rumah kami di Bintaro :D

Seharga Rp 30000, lidah kami seperti mengajak kami mudik sesaat, apalagi ditutup dengan nyeruput Teh Sosro kotak (Rp 15000).

Tersedia juga camilan khas Indonesia seperti keripik tempe dan kerupuk. Cocok banget disantap saat winter begini!


Naik ke lantai 2, ambil ke kiri & masuk di pintu kanan pertama.

Lokasi:


Titik lokasi di panah hijau
View Larger Map

GPS:
29.3339054
48.0585122

Snapshot: Having a Break Time While Other Still Working

Hari Ini Malu Sebagai Bangsa Indonesia

Saat abah Daud pasang video 'pembantaian' FPI, tanpa sengaja teman-teman non-Indonesia ikutan ngintip & penasaran. Mereka terpukau & terhenyak melihat adegan-adegan sadis. Boss kita ikutan nimbrung. "Where is it? Indonesia?"
Kami iyakan & dia terkejut, "What are they? Animal??" (video).



Yup. Kami malu hari ini. Besok atau lusa atau minggu depan berita ini akan tersebar secara internasional & mereka akan sadar betapa bar-barnya bangsa kita. Memalukan.

UPDATE: Temen di BBC London pun merasa lebih malu dengan berita ini saat dipublish di BBC.


Berasa malu bukan kepalang buat kita yang di negara orang.

UPDATE: Boy Avianto shares:


Tough job for Indonesian abroad :)

Winter is still here to stay

Location:Fourth Ring Rd,,Kuwait

Sebuah Tempat Yang Tidak Berkesan Kuwait

Tapi berkesan di New Dehli. Tempat tersebut di bilangan Maliya atau Salhiya Complex. Suasananya seperti Pasar Baru Jakarta. Sangat sedikit orang arab, kebanyakan India (Pakistan, Bangladesh & Srilanka) dan beberapa Filipina atau Indonesia.




(click to enlarge the map)

Related post:
- Feel at home at Salhiya
- Pose Gaya India

Arab Times: Indonesian Rockstar Jailed

Another joke from Indonesia in Arab Times, a Kuwait newspaper.



A rockstar jailed for personal sex videos. The scandalmonger remain unknown.

Benihana Kuwait vs 248am.com (part 2)

Reblogging from 248am.com with permission (blog is being blocked in Indonesia).

(original post)

I’m being sued by Benihana

Yesterday I got served with a court order, Benihana are suing me because of my post about my experience at their restaurant. If you haven’t read that post yet you can check it out by clicking [Here]

I’m currently getting legal advice from my lawyer Khaled Al Shamali who is actually a fan of my blog (that’s important) and I will be fighting this case in court. Originally my lawyer told me not to discuss this case with anyone but I feel it is important to share this with everyone since it doesn’t just effect me but the whole blogging community be it in Kuwait, UAE or anywhere else in the region. So after talking to my lawyer again, he’s now given me the green light to be transparent and open with everyone regarding this case.

I’ve uploaded the court order I received yesterday and you can download it from [Here]

The court order is in Arabic but if someone ends up translating it to English I will post it up as well. Benihana have the right to sue me but I don’t believe I said or did anything wrong and I stand behind everything I said and wrote in that post.

I’ve personally been threatened with lawsuits a number of times before, I know another popular blog recently got threatened with a lawsuit from a restaurant as well and I am sure there must be other bloggers who at one point in time have also been threatened. If blogs were recognized like newspapers or magazines we would all be protected from lawsuits like this but at the moment we aren’t. I find this unfair and if I end up losing this case what will it mean to all the other bloggers? Should bloggers be afraid to say anything negative about a company? Should all our posts just be happy happy joy joy?

I’m hopefully not going to lose this case and will try my best to win it and set an example so that other companies understand that if they don’t like something they read on a blog they can’t just sue the blogger.

I’ve been receiving an overwhelming amount of support on twitter. Honestly as much as I am a geek I never really understood or realized how powerful twitter can be until now. I literally have over 50 pages filled with tweets from people all over the region offering support. It’s really unbelievable and a lot and I mean A LOT of people from UAE have also been rallying behind me on this and according to one twitterer (is that the right word?) the Benihana topic is currently trending in the UAE at #8 at #3. A lot of people have also been leaving comments on the Benihana’s twitter account @benihana__ and on their Facebook page. But a few moments ago they deleted ALL the comments from their Facebook page but luckily I saved a pdf with some which you can download [Here]. They were actually a lot more than that before they were deleted. a reader saved a screenshot of all the comments which you can see [Here]

So thank you everyone for your support, I will try my best to keep everyone posted along the way on everything that takes place regarding this case.

Update: I just finished an interview with the Dubai Abu Dhabi based newspaper The National. I will also be on air live tomorrow at 11AM Dubai time on the DubaiEye 103.8FM.

Update2: An amazing reader translated the court order to English. You can download it [Here]

Update3: Please no one call and harass Benihanna or their employees. You can show your support in other ways. Thank you.

Update4: The National article on this lawsuit is up and you can read it [Here]

Update5: I’m now on Gulf News [Here] CNN iReport [Here] and TNW Social Media [Here]

Benihana Kuwait vs 248am.com (part 1)

Due to silly filter by Nawala, people cannot open Mark's 248am.com blog in Indonesia. Now I'm reblogging his blog with his permission.

(original post)

My Benihana Experience

A few days back I posted about Benihana opening up at the Avenues and yesterday night I decided to pass by with Nat and try it out. The service wasn’t too bad for a restaurant that’s just been open for a few days and the staff were really friendly. The restaurant itself is made up of islands and bars with a grill in the middle of each one. You sit around the grill and the chef will come to your table and prepare the food right in front of you which makes things entertaining. It’s actually why I prefer sitting at the bar in Japanese restaurants in general, since you can talk to the chef and watch them put your dish together. The problem with my experience last night though was with the food, it was disappointing to say the least.

We ordered beef negimayaki for starters followed by an Orange Blossom maki and a Hibachi Chicken. The negimaki arrived looking good and was probably the best thing we had there even though I prefer Maki’s negimaki which has a richer teriyaki sauce. The Orange Blossom was very ordinary, wouldn’t order it again. Now the Hibachi chicken which is basically grilled chicken, that was the worst. The chicken was very chewy (I could swear it was undercooked if not raw) and tasted terrible. Even after I had the chef add some more teriyaki sauce in hopes of improving the taste it didn’t work. I tried to dip it into the sauces that came with the chicken but it was hard to figure out if they were actually making things worse or not. Nat only ate one piece of chicken and left the rest while I needed my protein since I’m on a strict diet and forced myself to eat my whole plate (I can do that) but the after taste was really bad. Even the rice and the veggies that came with it tasted bad AND were under cooked. Once we left I considered picking up a frozen yogurt from Pinkberry even though I hate frozen yogurts but I just needed something to get rid of the aftertaste. A few moments later we ended up at Chocolate Bar ordering the gooey chocolate cake (bye bye diet).

I shot the two videos above of the chef preparing our meal. Benihana are known for the live shows they perform when preparing your dish so I was expecting to see [This] but ended up with the above . Would I go back to Benihana? No I wouldn’t. Their sashimi and maki’s are pretty cheap (KD1.5 for 5 pieces of Salmon sashimi for example) but there are two other Japanese restaurants at the Avenues, Wasabi and Maki, and I would prefer either one of those to Benihana.

Update: Comments have been closed.

Update2: If you read the comments below you will see that the Benihana GM Mike Servo threatened to sue me. Well, Benihana have actually gone ahead with the lawsuit, I got served my papers and my court date is in March. I have been receiving a lot of support from people via twitter, email and blogs. For now my lawyer has advised me not to discuss the case or talk about Benihana, but as soon as he gives me the go ahead I will be sharing all the details.

--- comment from Mike Servo - Benihana GM ---

Mike Servo says:
December 16, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Dear Mr. Mark,

We are from Benihana management of Kuwait; my name is Mike Servo the GM of the Company .

Thank You for visiting us in our restaurant and dining in with your wife .I had found your comments and in your web site on Benihana.

I also found it out that our rights and name is being used in a wrong way and broadcasting the video without a proper consent from us is really annoying specially Benihana is just opened up its doors to the public.

We are seeking and consulting our legal dept. on how we can form a type of law suit against your website to be brought up to the Kuwait authorities.

We respect opinion, but we see it in a way that Benihana name have been destroyed and abused on your website.

We are eager to know your name and meet you personally if you don’t have anything to hide.

You mentioned clearly on a detour way on not to go to Benihana and go to Maki or Wasabi or Chocolate Bar and we believe that this is against the law of Kuwait, We respect our rights on not to advertise in your website and if we don’t, this will not mean that we will be hurt by your side and if this done, the court in Kuwait will be in our side to give us our rights. to make this conversation short . We want you to give us your information, your name, your number and your address so our lawyer will take it from there and be sure that you in Kuwait were the jury is
100 % clean and fair.

We also expect that you might be sending people to Benihana to make a play and that is why we have informed the CID about that, In the past we encountered your add in Subway and it is one of our companies franchise, we really didn’t give it any attention, and it very clear now that Subway is an elephant while other competitors are closing down, however this time we will not let it go and we will follow you legally.

This is the last comment from my side and LPRC side; we wish that you will be free to give us your info. BTW are you Lebanese?

Thank for your concern and we have that you are brave to give us your info and we will meet in court soon.

Salute,

Mike Servo