Saturday, August 22, 2009

My 'Abdel-Wahab' Experience


Joined by our dear mothers, my cousins & I went to Abdel-Wahab's the Lebanese restaurant last Wednesday night. It was our first time there, & in general the experience was pretty good, yet there were some not-so-nice moments here & there. This is a review of my experience there.

We went pretty late (10:00 PM), as if we're subconsciously preparing ourselves to the late nights in the soon to come Ramadan, (as we went there just 2 nights ahead).

The weather was pretty humid (but not as humid as the following day, omg, it was TOO HUMID!!), but we didn’t mind that since we were to sit inside (I don’t know if there are tables outside).

It was our first time visiting this Lebanese restaurant, & our judgment is, pretty nice. In general.


The menu for an “only Lebanese” food is pretty good. It had plenty of the famous Lebanese dishes (that I'm aware of), & the taste was “delicious” for some dishes I had & “really good” for others.

There weren’t many options on the drinks, but that's okay I guess, since it's not an international restaurant. But I wished there were many juices, as The Sham is known for its delicious fruits & juices. I ordered an orange juice which was really delicious; I liked it, except that it wasn't really that cool, now that I remember. Or maybe I didn't drink it right away & it cooled down…

Mom thought the prices were pretty high, but I think it's reasonable since the location of the restaurant is on the beach, so it ought to be a little pricey.

But there was one thing that really caught my attention in the menu. There was NO dessert section! I was like checking & re-checking the menu over & over, thinking I may have missed it or something, but no, there wasn't any! LOL I thought it might be on a separate menu like some restaurants do, so I just let it go till it was time to have dessert & then if we weren't offered a dessert menu then I'd ask about it.



Warag Anab


The starter & soup took a considerate time to show up, while the main dishes took more time, but still considerate since they do take time to get done, (but if we were in a more popular restaurant, the food wouldn’t take so much time to get done, even for main dishes since they constantly make the most popular dishes even before customers order them).

We had several dishes that we loved to try & enjoyed most of them, if not all. My ultimate most delicious dish was the 3arayes. Omg, I wish I had taken a pic of it, but I just had one piece, & omg, it was sooo yummy! My least fave was the Warag 3anab, (I forgot what they call it in English; see picture above). It was good, don’t get me wrong, but it was a little sour to my taste. I don’t like sour food.

But then, after we were done with dinner, they brought us this lovely & sweet dish!



Mahalbia


I was like, oh, wow! Is that why they didn’t have add a desserts section in the menu? Do they always give away free Mahalbia or is it just because of Ramadan? I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure it's a celebration to the holy month's arrival :)

So was it good? Mmm, yeah! it was really sweet, all of us managed to eat at least halves of our plates; it was really good. I'm not really a big fan of this dish to tell you the truth, but I don't hate it. (Aunty, if you're reading this, yours is still number one :P - Oooops! I hope mom does not read this! -_-' :P im kidding, she knows I love my aunt's Mahalbia the most - even though it has changed a bit, but still, I like it! lol).

So, all in all, the experience was pretty good, only there were some points we didn't like about the restaurant. The place is pretty small; some of the tables were set really close to each others, so there's not always a perfect sitting place available. But on the bright side, the chairs were comfy.

The staff were okay. The waiters we had were friendly, but the janitor at the door did not leap to his feet & greet us by opening the door to us only after we were really close at the door & I gave him the impression that I wanted the door to be opened to us! I didn't like that at all, as it's his job to open the door for us, not the customers. Esp, that he was just there! Not doing anything! I don't know what he was thinking, not coming right away to us. Poor mom, had to try to open the door herself! I was like no, let him open it for us! It was by then he had reached to the door to open it. Thanks a lot! We couldn't have done without you! Just a split of a second & we would've been in ourselves! (esp, if the door wasn't a bit heavy then I'm pretty sure mom would've got to push it even before that man reached it!). So, that was the worst part. Talk about a first impression!

Also another thing, when we were about to leave, nobody said goodbye to us, or asked us to ‘come again’ in a friendly way. I’m not even sure they even saw us leaving!

But lucky for them, the food wasn't a big dissapointment, I could let the door mishap go. (But I will make sure to be treated with more respect).

Will I go there again? No, I rather try a new restaurant. But I wont mind having some for take away.

But would I recommend it? Yeah, its worth trying, esp if you love Lebanese food. But don’t expect to be treated like a king.







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* The first & last pictures are taken form the restaurant's facebook group

Link:


Friday, August 21, 2009

May You Have a Blessed Ramadan :)




Ramadan is here everyone!!!

Mbarak Alaikom eshahar!

Wish you all have a great time in this favorable time of year :)

May we invest in the best of deeds...

& be washed off all sins...

God bless us all & let us see more Ramadans to come...

Wish you all peace & love...



Happy Ramadan!!!!




Sunday, August 16, 2009

Kuwait Mourns the Death of 40+ Women & Children



I'm speechless...

I really am out of words...

I just found out about the whole thing...

I was out all day & having a great day & not a thing on my mind except that I need to get as fast as I could to work & get everything done... I never knew my beautiful day would end up with me finding out that a tragic incindent had happened last night & I didn't know anything about it...

History repeats itself...

so soon...

We still haven't gotten that Al-Jahra Wedding Hall fire tragedy that occurred earlier this year out of our heads yet & now we are struck yet again with another similar (yet more severe) tragedy that amazingly happenend in Al-Jahra too...

Tens of bodies injured & over 40 souls were taken back to their creator last night after a fire broke out in a private wedding that soon turned into a national funeral...

Our thoughts & prayers go out to all those who have lost their loved ones, may God have mercy on their souls...

Kuwait is mourning...



انا لله و انا اليه راجعون
ولا حول و لا قوة الا بالله


_______________________________

Updated on Aug 18. 08. 2009


Here's the Alwatan report on TV...



More from Alarabia:


Note: (an updated news) The ex-wife says she wanted to take revenge against her in-laws because they "ruined my marriage."

***

& to just take a look at how fast a tent can burst out into flames, check out this video (note that it's pretty disturbing esp when you associate it with the recent horrible fire incident):








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Sunday, August 2, 2009

Forever We Shall Still Remember...





Insecurity… suppression of freedoms... fears... killings... rape...environmental catastrophes...
Those are few of the terms associated with "war" & "Invasion"...
Today marks the 19th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, & till this very day the wounds are still present...
We will always remember this day & that painful memory as it's our duty to never forget such a horrific history. Writing about this aching past on this particular day of each year does not mean that we only remember the invasion just on this very day. That sorry memory is never out of our minds regardless of whether we talked about it or not. It is forever deeply carved in our hearts & souls.
I’ve always been open about how much I hate to talk about politics... a huge part of that hatred I'm sure is an effect of the invasion. Ever since that hurtful event, I’ve always hated to be reminded of it, & worked hard to avoid anything that would help me recall that time, including special TV shows, series, theatrical plays, articles in newspapers, & the history/political related educational lessons in our text books.
But regardless of me wanting desperately not to be reminded, I refused at the same time to forget about it. How could I? How could anyone ever forget, no matter how hard it is to remember all that pain? I was only 6, so some might say that I was too young to really know how hard it was, & that I barely remember. I hate it when they say that. Because, even if I was 6, & even if I really didn’t know what was really going on as to my child mind couldn’t really muster the meaning of “War” & invasion”, I still could “feel” the pain. I could feel it reflected on me.
I could still sense the fear my little heart felt whenever I heard a loud bang in the air… whenever a chopper flew nearby, & whenever I heard something bad was going to happen…
I remember being afraid of being in the garden to play on the swings for fearing that a rocket might land on my head all of a sudden as I was playing…
I could remember wondering who those Iraqis were & why were they here…
I could remember my mom recalling another name besides Saddam of another hater who also wanted to invade Kuwait in the 60s…
I remember not being able to go out & visit relatives all throughout the invasion time…
I remember feeling sad & worried (even though I couldn’t really comprehend it) over my cousin who was taken as a POW on this very day…
Those are just a bunch of many upsetting memories I have…
& they say I can’t remember?!
Those scattered terrifying scenes hear & there were & are enough for me to forever recall that sad history… & to never forget…




*****










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Friday, June 26, 2009

I really don't know what to title this post...

It was so sudden ...
It didn't sink in right away ...
It still feels unreal ...

It's funny! I've always wondered how the world will react when this day comes! We've seen how famous loved ones have affected people all around the world, such as the deaths of JFK, Elvis Presley, & from our world, AbdulHaleem, Om Kalthum, & locally, our loved leaders such Baba Jaber & Baba Sa'ad, God have mercy on their souls ...

But since people my age didn't really experience that extraordinary fascination & sometimes more-like-worship kind of love for a celebrity, I always wondered how will it go ...

But not in a million years have I expected what I'm feeling right now to ever happen to me!

First of all, I'm not a fan of his!!!!!!!!! So, why do I care then, right??

Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I do care??

But over the past few months, & due to a newly grown curiosity towards this person, whom I knew nearly nothing about except that he makes music & is acclaimed to be the most famous person in the world (ok, so what? who cares?) & really couldn't grasp why he was loved that much, but that didn't concern me really, there are so many stars who are loved very much, so it's not really strange .. but what got me interested & curious was that I wanted to set things straight about all the rumors I've heard ... was he really charged of those acts? Did he really do it? What exactly happened. But the most rumor I so wanted to set straight, was whether he really converted to Islam ...

Before I knew it, I was sucked into a world of fascination ...
I never knew his songs that I loved were so personal ... & that he wrote/co-wrote almost all them! To me that's highly appreciated of any performing artist ...
Listening to 'They Don't Care About Us', 'Scream', 'Leave Me Alone' & the like, gave a whole new meaning to the songs ... it's as if I'm listening to them for the first time ... really listening...

But then as I saw a number of interviews, some past interviews that I've seen years ago but didn't really cared to much about, have a new meaning to me ...
& somehow, I started to get to see something inside that face of his ...
& with the time, I didn't even get see his face anymore ... I just look right into his soul.

That's what got me...

His soul...

Ever since, I started praying for that man. To be freed from all that pain...
His life was soo unbearable! Trust me, nobody would wanna trade with him, if they could!
To live a life with constant pressure like this ... since early childhood...
& not only that, to be abused, threatened ...
With all the good in him, he was also contradictory in many ways ...






To Be Continued...




Breaking News: Michael Jackson Dies

At first I was on youtube & just looking at the home page & cheching the featured vids & all that & then I saw this ...







At first, I just glanced at it quickly as I did to all the featured vids on the page, but then I was like, wait, what?? RIP?? MJ?? what?


HUH??!!

Why are they celebrating MJ's career? It's not his birthday yet...

WAIT A MIN! What's with the R.I.P??? @@!!!!!!!!!!!

Is that a joke???

I hurriedly went to Yahoo with my heart on my chest hoping to find nothing & that it's just a late April's fool ... that is just so mean ...

But it's not a joke ...

MJ did die ... he passed away!

Passed away ...

Gone ...

No more living ...


It took me a few minutes for the news to register ...

But still ...

I just hope everything went well ... that's all I'm concerned about ...
that's all I care about ...

***

God have mercy on all of us ...

Friday, May 15, 2009

Vote Right, PLEASE!




Dear Kuwaiti people,





What will you do tomorrow?






Will you vote or not?






I'm so sick of all this 'election' drama that seems never-ending ...






I'm starting to believe we're cursed or something!






"Vote For Kuwait!!"






"Don't Let Kuwait down!!"






"Bring The Old Kuwait Back!!"






are just some of the election cries this time around & every time around ...






Of course, we're going to vote for Kuwait! Last time I checked we were Kuwaitis, right??






Anyways, we all know why they are calling it this way .. no need to go there ...





but with all the frustrating atmosphere we've been livin in (forever it seems), I will never lose faith in Allah, & will keep on hoping there will be a better place.


So, to all those going to vote tomorrow, think first of Allah. Yes, he's rarely thought of in all those candidate logos & cries, isn't he? They've all fixated their goals on Kuwait. Well, that's unquestionable, but you should put God first, then Kuwait, then the Amir.






So, to those who are voting, one more reminder, vote for the one YOU think is gonna be good for Kuwait. DO NOT vote for the one that represents your religious background, or the one that resembles great efforts, or the one that is old, therefore experienced, or the one that's new, therefore fresh blood & mind, or the one who's fighting against the enemies, or the one that has bought your dignity (I mean vote), or the one who's known for screaming their head off at the national assembly, therefore confidant & has a point, or the one who's simply a woman, therefore a feminist, or the one that just looks good, or the one that your dad, husband, brother, neighbour, friend..etc, has asked (instructed) you to vote for, or the one who's your relative, or the one that has helped you before (wasta) or .. or .. or






UNLESS,






YOU, ALONE, are convinced of their competence, & really believe they will serve Kuwait rightfully.






So, if you DIDN'T see anyone that your MIND think they're worth it, simply DON'T vote.






Voting isn't compulsory, you know ...






We wish there will be great people out there elected tomorrow that will turn Kuwait to the best; they can never take 'Hope from us.






So, Kuwaiti people, don't get so frustrated, & keep the faith in Allah & hope for a better Kuwait.






The Future of Kuwait is in OUR hands ...






So vote,









RIGHT




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Picture taken from Onzone.ca

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