Danderma's Blog, page 149

A Lost Dog Appeal

I received the following email yesterday asking for help in finding a lost pet, Pickles.

"Please help me find my lost dog. A chinese breed female dog with light hair that gets slightly darker in winter, she's almost 1 year old, her name is Pickles. She went missing 3 days ago in west mishref. She's extremely friendly and lovable. Please contact me if you see/have her, she means so much to me and i miss her terribly.

My e-mail: dal-125@hotmail.com"
If you have seen pickles anywhere, especially if you've been to sooq el7mam and seen someone who is trying to sell her as many dogs are stolen from their owners houses to be resold, please do not hesitate to contact the owner as she is heartbroken over the loss of her pet.
Thank you!

The "Obama" Perfume

I thought the Obama frenzy of the 2009 had died by now. Apparently it is still going on! I was in Jabriya Co-Op paying for my groceries when I saw this "Obama" perfume on the shelves. Obama Obama Obama Obama! He even has a perfume named after him :p

Looks like the Obama mania won't cool down anytime soon. I wonder how the perfume smells like.

Vulgar Trash in our Street for a Week!

For the past week or so I've been seeing the very civilized scene above every time I get in or out of my car. Every day I come back home wishing i had disappeared. Every day I see its still there, if anything its getting worse because more trash is being added on top.

We live in Jabriya, which is supposedly an OK area to live in without disgusting trash residing for a week besides our home. Every time I see that mess I wonder if it was washed down with clorex or dettol before being taken out of service to rot in the street. Why isn't anyone picking that up? Why is there no more "proper" rules and punishments against this type of vulgarity? You get fined if you throw this kind of trash outside your house in the UK. Why can't we get that kind of punishment here?

Do you know a number I could call to come have them take this trash somewhere? Anywhere? La3at chabdi tra g63 ma 9arat!

Things 2 Do in London: Mandaloun Restaurant

I remember the day we went to Mandalon. I was really sick and really hungry and have been walking and shopping non stop for hours without eating.

Then as we got out of Westfield mall into the terrace the sun was setting and it wall almost dusk. As we walked down the terrace we smelled the unmistakable scent of burning coals wafting around us and filling the air.

Then we saw this sign.

When I am in London I usually stay away from Arabic & Lebanese restaurants because we have plenty of them back home and they tend to be over priced and filled with Arabs. What pulled me inside Mandaloun was the smell of coal plus the "Six of the Best in London" quote by the Telegraph. I had to see what the fuss was all about.

The source of the burning coal smell was this little coal furnace located at the entrance of the restaurant on the outside seating area.

The coals are used for the shisha which is served outside so we opted to sit inside as both me & Butootee can't with shisha smoke blowing in our faces.

The restaurant was buzzing with the clatter of utensils and the chatter of happy diner. We were led to a table of two and given the menus. The interior of the restaurant was very trendy and modern with a traditional twist. The piece de resistance being the name of the restaurant spelled out in big light bulbs on one of the walls.

We were very hungry so we decided to get the vegetarian sharing mezze platter with a side of fried kubbeh as appetizers.

The mixed mezze came with plates of Hummus, Stuffed Vine Leaves, Mo7amara, Tabbouleh, Cheese Fatayer, Spinach Fatayer, and Falafel pieces.

Butootee ordered the Lebanese kebabs with a side of rice for main dish. I tried the rice and it was really good even though it had minced meat scattered around inside it.

Check out the back of the waiter's shirt.

We were so full, relaxed, and happy that we didn't really want to leave. But it was getting dark and we had to get home to rest. We promised ourselves another visit for sure. Why on earth did we not think of going inside is beyond me!

Mandaloun is located in Westfield Mall and in Fullham. For more information and for the menus check out their website (link).

10 Reasons Why You Should Get Braces

1- It will shave off 10 years of your real age and make you look younger and more innocent.

2- You won't be able to eat anything for a long time so you will loose a big amount of weight. You will be thinner.

3- Your facial features will improve: your nose and your lips and your mouth will look different and better at the end. You will look more beautiful.

4- Your speech will be corrected and your pronunciation of difficult letters will improve.

5- People with braces cannot whistle, so there is less amount of noise :p

6- People with braces cannot chew gum. Believe me, you can do without chewing gum and forgetting about it and chewing away without noticing. No gum society is a much classier society.

7- Straight teeth are easier to clean and brush than crooked overlapping teeth. Easier to clean means you will get healthier longer living teeth therefore less visits to the dentist. Some orthodontists say it even reduces the chance of having some heart related disease but I am not sure if that's confirmed or not. Yjooz.

8- After all the pain, the hunger, the dreaded visits to the orthodontist. In the end you will have great aligned teeth. Which is step one towards the dream Hollywood smile. Just look at Katherine Heigel's teeth while she laughs and you will know what I mean.

9- In the end since you have more confidence in your teeth you will be laughing and smiling more, you will be taking more pictures, you will be more talkative, all of which will improve your life and your confidence.

10- Every one in Kuwait is wearing braces now, young old, rich poor. Its the new Habba. It also means that in two years time everyone will have great teeth and if you have the slightest mishap in your own teeth it will stand out, badly that is.

So even though its a bit scary, the part where they take your teeth out. Even though its painful. Even though you suffer from one to two years. In the end when it comes off its quite worth it. I cannot wait for mine to come off, maybe in December insha2 Allah.

Look in the mirror, if you need braces then GET braces. There if no excuse for having bad crooked misaligned teeth now a days. No, being afraid is not excuse. There are many different treatments out there, take your pick!

What is this number exactly?

I first noticed this metal plaque with a series or numbers on the door of my grandmother's house when I went visiting. Suddenly it was on every door in her area!

What is it exactly? Some sort of bar code for the houses of Kuwait? How exactly is it going to improve our lives? Will it be used in some kind of program to locate houses, like the GPS for example? Will it -hopefully- be a way to refer to house address so we could finally get mail delivered directly to our places like everyone else on planet earth? Is it for the human counting population thing which I don't even know the name of in English?

Well what is it? Curiosity is gnawing inside me! Does anyone know?

Borrow a Book from Maktabaa's Blog

Have you ever wished you could read a book but you cannot find it anywhere? Or maybe you don't want to spend money to purchase a book you are hesitant about?

If you just want to read a book, not own it, they you will like the service provided by Maktabaa blog. You can browse through the books available, drop a comment asking to be lent the book, and it will be delivered to you within 48 hours.

The fees per book is 2 KD plus 3 KD refundable deposit to be given back when the book is returned.

If you are interested go ahead and start browsing through the books here (link). Best of luck Maktabaa, I really like your services!

I want Self Checkout Machines in Kuwait!

One of the things I truly enjoy when I am abroad is the ability to pay for my own purchases without needing to stand in line waiting for a human cashier, especially if I have a few items to pay for.

Not everyone prefers self checkout machines but I truly do. If I see a self checkout machine I immediately head towards it. I just love it. I love the independent feel I get from scanning my own items and bagging them, paying and taking off in mere minutes. It goes with my irritable nature and keeps me on the move for there is nothing more I hate more than waiting unnecessarily for something as mundane as paying for my purchases.

I really want to see this advanced piece of technology here in Kuwait. Why not? We have Cinescape's Smart Card machines and more people are using them every day! Please tell me if your life hadn't become easier ever since they were introduced in the early 2000′s? Now why can't we have the same in, say, TSC? Or Carrefour? Geant?

Today on twitter TSC asked if there was something we would like to talk about and I said yes, I suggest they get Self Checkout machines like most advanced grocery shops abroad. They promised that the request will be sent to the management. Lets just hope and see if it does get implemented. I am keeping my fingers crossed for this dream to come true.

Would you use a self checkout machine if it was in Kuwait? Do you use it abroad?

Review: Signor Sassi's New Cicchittie Menu

This post is WAY over due. I do sincerley apologize for that. But it kept being pushed back because it coincided with the start of Ramadan and Eid. Now the frenzy has settled down I am able to to blog freely.

For my birthday -yes my birthday, July, imagine!- I received a generous invitation for 2 from Signor Sassi to try out their new " Cicchittie" menu. Ideally I should have gone for my birthday dinner but I went for our Graish dinner in late August.

We were warmly welcomed by the restaurant's manager Signor Alberto Cascio. He led us to a great cosey table for two that overlooked the entire restaurant.

The moment we sat down we were served with Signor Sassi's complimentary drink, The Bellini, while Signor Cascio explained to us what is the Cicchittie menu.

Cicchittie (pronounced Chi-KET-tee) are a small collection of dishes usually served for sharing in Venice, Italy. So if you are a group of diners and wish to sample different items you can order several dishes from the Chicchittie menu and share it among yourselves. A bite here and a bite there and you've enjoyed a nice fulfilling meal. Signor Cascio asked us to choose our main dishes as he arranged for a collection of dishes from the Cicchittie menu to be sent over to our table.

As we placed our orders we were presented with fresh bread basket with chunks of Parmesan cheese, olives, and fine balsamic vinegar.

Also we were served garlic bread with rosemary

Butootee ordered this drink which he liked a lot.

Then we were bombarded by one little dish after another from the Cicchittie menu. First to arrive was the Mozzarelline Impanate, Crostini alla Romana, and the Crostini ai Porcini.

The Mozzarelline Impanate, deep fried breaded Mozzarella balls with a side of tomato & chilli dip, is one dish that I truly enjoyed eating.

I love anything to do with fried and breaded Mozzarella and these teeny bite sized balls were just perfect. Can't they serve them in Cinescape or something? This dish was mine and I proudly polished it off!

The Crostini alla Romana, slices of ciabatta bread topped with chopped tomateoes, garlic and basil, was very very fresh and light. Perfect for tomato loves.

The Crostini ai Porcini, slices of ciabatta bread topped with porcini mushroom in cream sauce, is one I truly enjoyed to the last bite. It was very different and tasteful.

The pungent porcini mushroom was teasing my palates. I loved this Cicchittie dish.

Next we were presented with the Gamberoni Piccanti, the Spiedino di Gamberoni e Salmone, and Arancini alla Sicilliana.

Arancini alla Sicilliana, rice balls filled with beef sauce and Mozzarella cheese & served with spicy chutney. Butootee liked this dish a lot.

The Gamberoni Piccanti, Prawns cooked with butter, chili, and garlic, was Butoote's favorite dish. He says it is perfectly cooked and tasted heavenly. If you are a fan of prawns you should try that for sure.

The Spiedino di Gamberoni e Salmone, prawn, salmon, and vegetable skewer marinated in garlic and herbs, was Butoote's second favorite dish form the Cicchittie menu. He was very very happy with the skewer combination.

For my main dish I ordered the Spaghetti Pomodoro. On the menu there was a note that this dish was the late opera singer Pavarotti's favorite dish.

My Pasta Pomodoro was good! No wonder it was Pavarotti's favorite!

Butootee ordered the mushroom risotto which I stole a bite of and it was really good!


In the end Signor Cascio and the chef came over to our table to take our comments. Believe me there weren't many aside from 'Compliments to the Chef'.

We truly enjoyed our dinner that night. Thank you Signor Cascio for you warm welcome and attentiveness to make the best out of our dinner experience.
Signor Sassi has currently two locations: Arabian Gulf Road Arabian Gulf Road from Kuwait Towers Entrance and 360 Mall. For more information you can contact Signor Sassi on 2241 8893 or visit their website (link).

Confessions: What's your spending weak point?

You know what I mean. You are broke, or almost broke. You have bought too many things recently and should be a good girl. You find something RIDICULOUSLY expensive and you don't really need it. Yet you are overcome with that 'I must have it now or I will never be happy again' feeling. You take out your VISA card and buy it regardless of the circumstances. Life is good and you are content again.

For some women its Diamonds. That's my baby sister for you, she cannot resist diamonds. For other women its shoes. Others nail polishes or hair accessories or perfumes… etc.

For me it is, in order of importance, Books, anything related to Coffee, Gourmet Chocolate, Arabian Perfumes, DVDs, and Transparent acrylic housewares. I love diamonds but I don't allow my self to splurge on them that much. Same goes with electronics but I can put a leash on that and other cravings.

What is your nonnegotiable irresistible craving item? Yalla confess