Danderma's Blog, page 104

Picture of the Week: Nutella, Nutella, and Nutella!

On my last visit to Solo Pizza I noticed that they had the hugest Nutella jar on the counter topped by another normal looking nutella jar which in turn was topped by the tiniest looking nutella jar ever!

Even though I am not a fan of Nutella at all there is one place that Nutella makes sense to me which is inside a bubbling hot Nutella Dario right out of Solo's oven! The sight of those Nutella jars makes me want to skip my pizza funghi straight to my double espresso and dario

What would you do with a jar of Nutella that big? How long do you suppose it would last?

Today is Autism's Day

Kuwait Center for Autism (KCA) is celebrating Autism day today, the 2 of April. KCA is a non-profit charity organization established in 1994 by Dr. Samira Al-Saad aims to relieve the country's shortage in Educational Training, Diagnosis and Treatment of children with autism and strengthening all the amenities needed for these children.

 

Gulf Autism Union established by Dr. Samira Al-Saad in 1994 celebrates the International Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd 2012 by conducting different activities throughout the Gulf countries to highlight the understanding of 'AUTISM' for the better future of all children and adults with autism.

Today many will be proudly sporting the orange ribbon in recognition and support of Autism day. For more information you can contact KCA on their facebook page (link) and Twitter (@kwautism).

 

Have you seen this guy on 4th ring road?

I was driving on 4th ring road yesterday when I a labor worker standing in the middle of the road waving a flag. I was a bit confused: what is a man doing waving a flag at 11 PM? Then when I got closer I realized he was a mechanized doll!

This afternoon he was there as well right by the entrance of Yarmouk from 4th ring road so I took his picture. That's weird! This is the first time I've seen this guy around the streets of Kuwait. He is kinda distracting though as cars are slowing down to take a look at him. Is he really necessary? Funny and new yes of course, but necessary? Madry wallah.

Have you encountered this guy? I bet he already has a name :p

Review: Hashtag Burger

In a dark alley right besides Solo Pizza Neapolitan sits a little burger joint sporting a very hip identity of not having a name or a sign on the door, the name is Hashtag Burgers.

Hashtag is a local restaurant that is the brain child of the guys behind Solo Pizza:  Amr Al-Refaei & Dhari Al-Huwail. Yesterday was their first day in operation and therefore we decided to pay them a visit. Bu Tootee adores burgers and couldn't wait to try theirs.

The way things are done in Hashtag is that you take a look at their menu on the black board.

Then you go to the counter, place your order, and pay.

Then you take your seat and wait for your order to arrive. While we were there the place was already full so we decided to sit at the stalls by the big mirror.

As we waited I saw the chef, Dhari Al-Huwail, cooking the burgers from the big mirror.

So I took the camera closer to the action.

The kitchen is open plan yes but the ventilation is right so you will NOT smell anything or have the cooking smell on your clothes.

Here is the Hashtag burger with the special sauce being poured on top.

It took mere minutes to have the order arrive at the table. Very quick and prompt for an opening day masha2 Allah! Its a good thing because the man was beginning to get very very hungry. First were our drinks, St. Pallegrino's lemonade and orange. I love St. Pallegrino's! Now those would go really well with Solo's pizza too!

Next came the Hashtag burger. The bun was so pillowy soft and had an orange hue!

The hashtag fries: generous portions, crunchy, and beautifully seasoned with a hint of paprika.

This is the only picture I could take of the burger before it was devoured by Bu Tootee! I tasted a bit of the bun and it was really really good! He loved the burger and it was gone in a matter of seconds. Once it was picked up from the white box, it never came back.

Dinner was over in ten minutes and we had paid already so I took pictures of the place. Tiny but well decorated. I also loved the music they had on, my current favorite song Titanium started playing which made me even happier

Y7leelha elzar3a! Very cute

Before we finished we were presented with a celebratory cheesecake. Now I am NOT a fan of cheesecake at all but this one, it had clumbs of chocolate nestled between the folds of cheese and those clumbs made the cheesecake something to die for! Now for the eternal instagram question: min wain hal ka3ka? Min wain min wain min wain?

Dhari's apron with the hashtag logo on, very nice!

Bu Tootee & Dhari smiling for the camera. Great job Dhari!

And making the Hashtag sign!

Check out Dhari's business card, very effective indeed :p

Before we left we signed the notebook. My Bu Tootee had drawn a little burger which, knowing him, meant he was still thinking of the burger he had just eaten.

For more pictures of Hashtag's burgers you can check The Diet Ninja's post (link). Nice one sensai

Hashtag Burger is located right next to Solo Pizza Napulitana and are open daily from 6:30 PM to 10:30 PM Saturday to Thursday. For more information and updates you can follow Hashtag Burgers on twitter (@hashtagq8). Lay6oofkom!

Dhari & Amr, congratulations on a job well done! We are proud of you

Help: Do You Miss Blogs that Wrote Stories?

Last week as I was trying to fall asleep because I had work the other day, the clock showed that it was 2 AM in the morning and all I could think of is a short story I wanted to type for my blog.

What did I do? I put the message above on Instagram and then forced myself to sleep. When I woke up in the morning I fought the urge to type up the story I had in my mind. Why? I'm not really sure. I guess the days of blogging short stories are long gone. My blog posts are like my little projects and if they are not that successful it kinda breaks my heart. Who would still want to read short stories,or stories at all now a days?

Then of course there is that whole mix up between what is real and what is fiction. I'd have to, repeatedly, tell people that the story is fiction. Wallah fiction, never happened, NOT ME! Then I would have to deal with jerks who would skim the story and point out that its full of syntax and grammatical errors.Then 3adi jedan etyene wa7da o itgool le why you wrote the story of bent 3ammat khalat beit yeran mort okho yaditi? Ma teswa 3lay hal kelmetain ele aktebhom.

Then yesterday at Hashtag a gorgeous girl approaches me and asks me if I was Danderma. She then tells me how she loves my book and asks me very matter of factly that why is it that you can't find stories written in blogs anymore. I was astonished! No more than a few days ago was I thinking about that and struggling with it and there it was out of the blue! Do you think its a sign? I think its a sign. I do believe in signs and I also believe that was a very obvious one.

So I think it might be time I typed up that little short story. Knowing me, a short story would take 60 posts :p but then we'll see how it goes with the first post awal esp. the story I had in mind is a bit weird and might not appeal to a lot of people.  Please do let me know if you miss reading stories in blogs as part of the blogging scene. Shraykom? Do you miss it?

Review: Azteca Mexican Restaurant

Ever since I've seen the sign of the Mexican restaurant Azteca in The Village and I've wanted to try it. I love Mexican food and we've yet to get more restaurants open here. Enough with the Asian! It however took me until yesterday to finally be able to go and try it.

The weather was fine though a bit dusty but it still was pleasant for outdoors dining. We chose a table outside. The village was chock full with happy weekend diners.

We got the menu which they say is not finalized still. It didn't take us long to choose what we wanted.

As we were waiting for our food we were harassed by this stray cat who kept approaching me and staring at me in the most peculiar way. Her stare made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! I say shoo and she darts closer to me. As I whipped my camera she actually posed for me! She didn't go away until I read verses of Quran -elmo3awethat- bism Allah!

I heard sporadic screaming of other diners from other restaurants who were harassed by the strange cat -I suppose- anyways by then my margharita had arrived.

How was it? Ma y'3ashmer! Tangy and when you take a sip the salt on the glass rim  mixes with the sour lemon giving it a delicious kick. Not for everyone. If you cannot handle lemon juice without sugar, don't order it. For appetizers we first ordered the nachos.

With a side of tomato salsa.

The nacho were OK. In my humble opinion they would have tasted better with a squeeze of lime on top, maybe a little salt. The salsa was spicy which I couldn't handle but frankly it was a tad tasteless. I didn't like it -OK spicy or not I took a tiny taste-.

Next as an appetizers came this dish which I don't know the name of but its basically tacos topped with re-fried beans, cheese,  avocado, and tomatoes.

This dish was very very messy to eat. If you want to order it then site inside where passers by can't look at you while ur struggling with the crispy taco. Again it was OK but lacking the oomph factor. I'd say a squeeze of lemon or a bit of seasoning would do.

Next came the main dishes. In the fajitas section there was no vegetarian fajita but when I asked the waiter he said the chef can make me one with melted cheese on top. True to his word he did and it came in the classic sizzling pan.

It came with 3 tortillas and a little bit of green sauce -I don't know its name-.

It was a really good dish. Very tasty and seasoned to perfection. I wish they would consider having adding it to the menu.

Yummy yummy…

I love fajitas

Bu tootee had ordered the beef burrito which came with a side of re-fried beans topped with cheese and guacamole.

He loved his beef burrito and enjoyed every bite. Its official, the main dishes are way better than the appetizers.

Next came the desserts with coffee. Why? Because they have churros on the menu! Hooray! First I ordered Mexican coffee which is black coffee infused with cinnamon.

Here come the churros!

How were they? Lets say we fought over them. In the end we realized we should have each ordered a plate. They are not something to be shared!

In the end our bill came to around 15 KD. Not bad at all! The staff were really super friendly and helpful, literally waited on us hand and foot. The chef even came to our table to say hello and ask us if everything is OK and if we needed anything.

My recommendation? Skip the appetizers, go to the main course directly and leave room for the churros! You can't dine in Azteca and not have the churros! Azteca is located in The Village, Abu Al-Hasaniya.

Good Saturday Morning…

Rise and shine! Its the last day in the glorious weekend and sadly its getting hotter. Not long now before it becomes too hot to dine outdoors. What are you having for breakfast?

I want a big fat frozen coffee drink topped with luscious whipped cream and a generous drizzle of chocolate sauce. It is is the perfect time for a cold drink now

What are your plans for Saturday?

 

Ten Types of Drivers you Encounter on the Streets of Kuwait

1- The vain driver: They cannot stop looking at themselves in the mirror. A comb will come out to fix a stray hair, a kohl pen to pop the eyes even more. Then suddenly the iPhone is whipped out and click click it goes taking pictures of them pouting or posing because their beauty at that moment cannot go undocumented. People are free to do so of course but we would appreciate it if you weren't driving on the highway while your tending to your beauty!

2- The good driver: or the ones who want to be a good driver but they don't know how. They drive too slowly. They seem too scared to change lanes so they must flash their signals 10 minutes before they want to turn or move. For some unfathomable reason they always, always, ALWAYS drive on the fastest lane? For the love of god, WHY!

3- The kings of the road: They will use the safety lane to cut you off. They will overtake your space in a U-turn or in a traffic light demanding to pass. They will drive in the middle of two lanes as long as they want and don't you DARE honk your horn at them. After all they own the road as far as they are concerned.

4- The Casanova: Mostly seen on 2nd ring road or Gulf road. This guy is god's gift to women therefore we must all drive slowly and wait for him to block the road driving next to a poor girl driver trying to get away from him while he tries to convince her he loves her and wants to marry her if she would only take his number. Shakhbary! Grow up!

5- El7ajjeya: women my grandmother's age who love to drive a Yukon chock full of kids, help, and grocery shopping. She is always hassled because of the one thousand requests that fall on her poor head. She also, sadly, doesn't know how to drive that Yukon so if you spot her on the street, steer clear of her path!

6- Elshayeb: he would be a proud old man, well over the age of 80 with a license that expired 50 years ago, and can barely see so he leans all the way on his steering wheel and squints. Of course he walks all over the road in whatever fashion he feels like it o fekom khair honk your horn at him. El9aber zain.

7- The Jerk: ykoon la3eeeeeen. He would be driving slowly and you want to change lanes because of him, but suddenly he picks up speed so you wouldn't go before him. Or you would signal you want to turn and suddenly he decides he wants to take his time on the road -or speed- elmohim that you don't accomplish your goal.  Happened to me too many times lel asaf. I wonder how miserable their lives must be w3liya.

8- The labor worker: he would have a tiny run down dusty car filled to the brim with tired and sad looking fellow labor workers. There are just too many of them in the car and you can tell because the body of the car is almost scraping the pavement. Of course he must go very slowly. What is not fathomable how ever is why they insist on driving on the fastest lane? Why not on the slow lane where they can spend one hour crossing a bridge?

9- The Taxi: the ones that pick up people whenever and wherever the situation allows. They are always driving super slowly because they are browsing the streets looking for potential customers. They wouldn't mind breaking and stopping suddenly in the middle of the highway if they thought a potential customer would come along and even if they are occupied, they would still drive super slowly and never, ever, in the slow lane. If only we could get rid of those taxis then half of the congestion in the Kuwaiti roads would clear up. Hmph.

10- Elma6yoor: He is always in a hurry, always driving 160 KM/H, and seems to have misplaced his brakes. It doesn't matter if the road is blocked up and there is no where to go, he would still be driving too fast and expecting you to either move out of his way or keep up. He is a potential accident waiting to happen and you can see him a mile away. Keep his path clear because, god forbid you delay him, he has no trouble running you over on his quest of madness.

Do you have anymore categorizations for the drivers you see on our streets?

Shino '3adakom Elyoom?

Thursday is here, Thursday is here! It was one of those weeks which stretched on forever and thus the arrival of Thursday seems even more precious now! There is also no dust so we can celebrate with outdoors lunch! What are you planning for your lunch? Eating in the office? Bel zwara? At home? Skipping lunch? Flying somewhere?

Due to a recent visit to Wafra farms by my husband we have an huge supply of all types of vegetables in the fridge. I am now fantasyzing about going home and baking myself a red pepper stuffed with chickpeas, cheese, veggies, and herbs nestled on a bed of greens and drizzled with a lovely balsamic vinaigrette. Mmmmmm

What about you? Shino '3adakom elyoom?

The Free Kuwait Campaign in London Website

A few years ago I wanted some picture of Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion of 1990. I searched the internet high and low but to dismay I barely found anything. I was really surprised no one took the initiative to archive that crucial period of Kuwait's history. Then Mr. Adel Al-Yousifi published his a website named The Evidence (link) which documented that dark time with photographs online.

Now Mr. Adel is back with another website, the Free Kuwait website (link) which documents the events and efforts of the Free Kuwait movement and campaign in London where Mr. Adel was during the invasion. We were in London too. My father helped out by designing many logos and posters used in that time. I wrote about his designs once when they were showcased in an exhibition in the avenues without giving him any credit or mention here (post).

In the Free Kuwait website you will see memorabilia, documents, events, and most importantly pictures of the Kuwaiti in London during the invasion. If you were in London or know someone who was, take a look and browse through the endless pictures. I spent an entire day going through the pictures and checking my family  and even my classmates during the invasion.

So go ahead and take a look. The experience is epic if I may say so. If you recognize someone please email the website admin on  info@freekuwait.org.kw with the picture number and name of the person so they can add the name in the caption. They need to identify as many Kuwaitis as possible.

So go on, check http://freekuwait.org.kw and remember that we will never, never, ever forget. Forgetting is not an option. Read this story on 2:48 AM's blog and tell me if forgetting is possible (link) wan If you haven't been around to witness or remember, then you have your chance now.