Today, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, it was not a day to stay home at all! I called my wife and told her that we need to go out somewhere! I picked her up and we headed towards the city, and I decided that it would be a great day to check out a place that I have passed numerous times but never took the time to actually enter! I am talking about ‘7adeeqat AlShaheed’ (حديقة الشهيد), which everyone passes while on 1st ring road. Its the one across from Dasma, with the entrance from Soor Street, across AlMulla building.

Anyway, I was expecting it to be crowded with lots of families and people who took the day off for Christmas…..the place was nearly deserted! It really is a shame that such a place is not being enjoyed by anyone! There were a couple of men exercising walking around, and a small group of young boys playing football. The place was very well taken care of surprisingly, and it is worth visiting!

Except……..it was named 7adeeqat alshaheed in honor of our martyrs who gave their lives to this land, which is a very nice gesture. It also has a monument dedicated to the martyrs. Unfortunately, this is what the monument looks like at the moment…..

There is nothing to say on this subject! It is disgraceful to say the least! NONE of the names are clear, its just a big peice of stone with shi3aar lajnat alshuhada!

Other than this, everyone should go visit 7adeeqat alshaheed! I feel like an idiot for not visiting that place earlier, and we made a promise to come more often, and will bring our friends along for some nice gatherings.

It was a very pleasant walk on a beautiful day, and I discovered a new place, and I am happy.

For the first time, I will have two restaurant reviews in the same week! My last review, Edo, was done after going with nibaq and purgatory72. This time, since nibaq is out of the country, I went with purg and his brother, who is a really cool guy! Our restaurant of choice this time was Zorba’s Greek Taverna, in Salmiya above the Dana restaurant on blaajaat street.

At first, I asked purg if we should go and review Hard Rock Cafe since it just opened and Jackie requested it, he shot that idea down (not me Jackie, blame purg ;P) and suggested Zorba’s. Since I’ve never been there before, I thought it would be a great idea.

We all got there at 8 pm sharp, when I first entered, I was impressed and surprised that I’ve never been recommended this place before. It actually looks Greek, they put some effort in making the place seem Greek to an extent. Well, actually, when we first got it, the guy at the door was spraying something on the Christmas tree, it turned out to be snow I guess! Anyway, he asked if we came for dinner or sheesha, we said both, so he took us to the smoking area, which really changes everything. The place loses any sense of being Greek, its just a sheesha place, but they did have a nice big screen tv and showed the Gulf Cup final game, which was enjoyable.

They had a choice of a buffet or ala carte. The buffet included chow mein and qoozy, which automatically took the place down in my opinion, I thought it was Greek!! Apparently, only the menu was Greek, the buffet was a normal international buffet. The menu arrived, with pages falling apart, and the ceiling was leaking right next to our table. The waiter was really nice but for some reason his answer was always “ok” no matter what we said, sometime even before requesting something, and an ‘ok’ doesnt necessarily mean it will happen.

We ordered our starters and main course, and it took forever for the food to come, but we honestly didnt feel time pass bcz of the game and bcz of our chatting. When it did arrive, the stuffed grape leaves were good, an eggplant with cheese dish was very good, but the chicken liver pastry thingie wasn’t that good! There was also a yogurt and cucumber dish, which was really good with other stuff.

My main course was some kind of lamb stew with rice. It was the first time I ever had to cut the rice with a knife, that is how sticky it was! the lamb was decent, nothing special, but not bad. There was also something that I mistaked for potatoes, and it turned out to be something else totaly, purg found out what it was, but I forgot. Even my diet coke tasted very watered down!

As for desserts, I went with purg’s bro to check out the desserts, which had to be chosen from the selection in the buffet! I went for the Um Ali, and that was really good I have to admit!

The sheesha was excellent, we had that with tea while watching the penalties (Oman shouldve won, everyone there was cheering for Oman!), and they had problems with service in bringing the tea! Where pricing is concerned, I dont really know, purg was kind enough to invite me tonight.

All in all, its not like any Greek restaurant Ive been to when I was in the US, and there is no other Greek restaurant here to compare it to. It didnt really feel authentic, and the food definitely wasnt as Greek as i expected! As a restaurant, I do not recommend it, as a sheesha place, it will definitely be a place I will come to more often. I really think the place has potential if something radical is done to it, and I dont mean in terms of furniture or look, I mean something about the service, the food quality, and atmosphere altogether! It really did feel like a sheesha place alot more than a restaurant, with the quality of service that usually accompanies sheesha places!

Final grade -
As a restaurant - 52/100
As a sheesha place - 73/100

For the first time, I will have two restaurant reviews in the same week! My last review, Edo, was done after going with nibaq and purgatory72. This time, since nibaq is out of the country, I went with purg and his brother, who is a really cool guy! Our restaurant of choice this time was Zorba’s Greek Taverna, in Salmiya above the Dana restaurant on blaajaat street.

At first, I asked purg if we should go and review Hard Rock Cafe since it just opened and Jackie requested it, he shot that idea down (not me Jackie, blame purg ;P) and suggested Zorba’s. Since I’ve never been there before, I thought it would be a great idea.

We all got there at 8 pm sharp, when I first entered, I was impressed and surprised that I’ve never been recommended this place before. It actually looks Greek, they put some effort in making the place seem Greek to an extent. Well, actually, when we first got it, the guy at the door was spraying something on the Christmas tree, it turned out to be snow I guess! Anyway, he asked if we came for dinner or sheesha, we said both, so he took us to the smoking area, which really changes everything. The place loses any sense of being Greek, its just a sheesha place, but they did have a nice big screen tv and showed the Gulf Cup final game, which was enjoyable.

They had a choice of a buffet or ala carte. The buffet included chow mein and qoozy, which automatically took the place down in my opinion, I thought it was Greek!! Apparently, only the menu was Greek, the buffet was a normal international buffet. The menu arrived, with pages falling apart, and the ceiling was leaking right next to our table. The waiter was really nice but for some reason his answer was always “ok” no matter what we said, sometime even before requesting something, and an ‘ok’ doesnt necessarily mean it will happen.

We ordered our starters and main course, and it took forever for the food to come, but we honestly didnt feel time pass bcz of the game and bcz of our chatting. When it did arrive, the stuffed grape leaves were good, an eggplant with cheese dish was very good, but the chicken liver pastry thingie wasn’t that good! There was also a yogurt and cucumber dish, which was really good with other stuff.

My main course was some kind of lamb stew with rice. It was the first time I ever had to cut the rice with a knife, that is how sticky it was! the lamb was decent, nothing special, but not bad. There was also something that I mistaked for potatoes, and it turned out to be something else totaly, purg found out what it was, but I forgot. Even my diet coke tasted very watered down!

As for desserts, I went with purg’s bro to check out the desserts, which had to be chosen from the selection in the buffet! I went for the Um Ali, and that was really good I have to admit!

The sheesha was excellent, we had that with tea while watching the penalties (Oman shouldve won, everyone there was cheering for Oman!), and they had problems with service in bringing the tea! Where pricing is concerned, I dont really know, purg was kind enough to invite me tonight.

All in all, its not like any Greek restaurant Ive been to when I was in the US, and there is no other Greek restaurant here to compare it to. It didnt really feel authentic, and the food definitely wasnt as Greek as i expected! As a restaurant, I do not recommend it, as a sheesha place, it will definitely be a place I will come to more often. I really think the place has potential if something radical is done to it, and I dont mean in terms of furniture or look, I mean something about the service, the food quality, and atmosphere altogether! It really did feel like a sheesha place alot more than a restaurant, with the quality of service that usually accompanies sheesha places!

Final grade -
As a restaurant - 52/100
As a sheesha place - 73/100

Ok, I know many of the regulars are not into politics, but for anyone who is, please feel free to give ur thoughts…..

Saudi Arabia, also known as big brother to Kuwait, has been acting weird recently! Everyone knows there’s so much trouble going on internally and that they are reaching a very interesting point in time, a ‘make or break’ sort of thing. This is the time that will probably define who they are and what they will be in the future. So you would expect them to have a presense in the regional scene and try to make as many friends to protect their interests, right?? Well….apparently not! In the past couple of weeks, Saudi has done three things that really make me wonder on what their foreign policy is?

• Withdrawing the Saudi embassador from Tripoli in Libya, and asked the Libyan to withdraw their representative in Saudi! This comes months after a plot to assassinate the crown prince was uncovered by the US, and Libya denies it. Its not the action that bothers me as much as the timing! Why now? This plot was uncovered earlier in the year!
• The Saudi crown prince refused to attend the Gulf Summit in Bahrain after announcing that they are unhappy with the fact that Bahrain signed a defence agreement with the US. Why?? They say this affects the joint treaties that the Gulf nations have together! But every country has the right to do whatever it does if it thinks it helps them, what gives the Saudis the right to butt in? And even if they dont agree, there are more civilized ways than to publicly announce their dissatisfaction, and then not send the crown prince, instead replacing him with a lower official.
• Withdrawing from the Gulf Cup games, where they decided not to participate just a few days before the tournament, without giving any reasonable excuses. Many voices have been saying that it had something to do with disputes between Saudi and Qatar.

I know the third point isnt really as big as the earlier two, but still its another example of weird decisions. I seriously cant make sense of these decisions at a time when they need more allies than ever! What is their broader vision? Any thouhgts?

Ok, I know many of the regulars are not into politics, but for anyone who is, please feel free to give ur thoughts…..

Saudi Arabia, also known as big brother to Kuwait, has been acting weird recently! Everyone knows there’s so much trouble going on internally and that they are reaching a very interesting point in time, a ‘make or break’ sort of thing. This is the time that will probably define who they are and what they will be in the future. So you would expect them to have a presense in the regional scene and try to make as many friends to protect their interests, right?? Well….apparently not! In the past couple of weeks, Saudi has done three things that really make me wonder on what their foreign policy is?

• Withdrawing the Saudi embassador from Tripoli in Libya, and asked the Libyan to withdraw their representative in Saudi! This comes months after a plot to assassinate the crown prince was uncovered by the US, and Libya denies it. Its not the action that bothers me as much as the timing! Why now? This plot was uncovered earlier in the year!
• The Saudi crown prince refused to attend the Gulf Summit in Bahrain after announcing that they are unhappy with the fact that Bahrain signed a defence agreement with the US. Why?? They say this affects the joint treaties that the Gulf nations have together! But every country has the right to do whatever it does if it thinks it helps them, what gives the Saudis the right to butt in? And even if they dont agree, there are more civilized ways than to publicly announce their dissatisfaction, and then not send the crown prince, instead replacing him with a lower official.
• Withdrawing from the Gulf Cup games, where they decided not to participate just a few days before the tournament, without giving any reasonable excuses. Many voices have been saying that it had something to do with disputes between Saudi and Qatar.

I know the third point isnt really as big as the earlier two, but still its another example of weird decisions. I seriously cant make sense of these decisions at a time when they need more allies than ever! What is their broader vision? Any thouhgts?

Straight from New York City, a beautiful selection of doughnuts from the mouthwatering Krispy Kreme……courtesy of the magnificent NYchick….

Satna’s bag of goodies!

An insider’s view…..1 down, 11 to go!

I cant thank you enough NYchick if ur reading this! This really has to be one of the most delicious acts of random kindness! Not many people would have gone as far as bringing back that stuff with them all the way from NY! I also got a really nice mug from her with NEW YORK all over it! To get a better idea of what an amazing person NYchick is….check out zaydoun’s post!

Straight from New York City, a beautiful selection of doughnuts from the mouthwatering Krispy Kreme……courtesy of the magnificent NYchick….

Satna’s bag of goodies!

An insider’s view…..1 down, 11 to go!

I cant thank you enough NYchick if ur reading this! This really has to be one of the most delicious acts of random kindness! Not many people would have gone as far as bringing back that stuff with them all the way from NY! I also got a really nice mug from her with NEW YORK all over it! To get a better idea of what an amazing person NYchick is….check out zaydoun’s post!

For some of you poor souls who didnt recognize the picture from the latest post, the picture was for a cartoon character called Jumaro, which was a fighting toy robot that belonged to a kid called Sanshiro, who was the hero of the show, and the show was actually called Sanshiro!
Anyway, I used to love that show when I was a kid, and I feel bad for anyone who didnt get a chance to see it! Its basically a show about a kid who has his toy robot, and his adventures consist of going around (with his friend, who happens to be a girl) and fighting with other people’s toy robots!

Does this story ring a bell?? Not yet?? Ok….look at the main character and his girlfriend, dont they remind you of anyone?? Yup….u got it….

Sanshiro was the grandaddy of Pokemon! Same exact concept, even the characters looks the same to an extent! I was checking it out a couple of days ago, and I found the reason for all the similarities when I saw the details….

معلومات عامة

سنة الانتاج : 1984/ 1983
الاسم الياباني : プラレス３四郎
الاسم الأصلي : Plawres Sanshiro
الاسم العربي : سانشيرو
أسماء أخرى : Plastic Model Wrestling Sanshiro
======> : PlaWrestle Sanshiro
======> : Puraresu Sanshiro
شركة الانتاج : Asatsu DK & Kaname Production
الحلقات الأصلية : 37
الحلقات العربية : 26
مدة الحلقة : نصف ساعة
النوع : الرّياضات ( المصارعة ), الرّوبوتات, الخيال العلميّ

فريق العمل

المخرج : Kunihiko Yuyama ==> مُخرج البوكيمون
السيناريو : Junki Takegama & Kenji Terada & Kosuke Fujikawa
تصميم الشخصيات : Mutsumi Inomata & Shigenori Kageyame
المدير الفني : Shigeru Katsumata
الموسيقى : Yanusori Tsuchuchida
التأليف : Gyû Jirô & Minoru Kamiya

—————————————————————————-

Mystery solved….have a nice day

For some of you poor souls who didnt recognize the picture from the latest post, the picture was for a cartoon character called Jumaro, which was a fighting toy robot that belonged to a kid called Sanshiro, who was the hero of the show, and the show was actually called Sanshiro!
Anyway, I used to love that show when I was a kid, and I feel bad for anyone who didnt get a chance to see it! Its basically a show about a kid who has his toy robot, and his adventures consist of going around (with his friend, who happens to be a girl) and fighting with other people’s toy robots!

Does this story ring a bell?? Not yet?? Ok….look at the main character and his girlfriend, dont they remind you of anyone?? Yup….u got it….

Sanshiro was the grandaddy of Pokemon! Same exact concept, even the characters looks the same to an extent! I was checking it out a couple of days ago, and I found the reason for all the similarities when I saw the details….

معلومات عامة

سنة الانتاج : 1984/ 1983
الاسم الياباني : プラレス３四郎
الاسم الأصلي : Plawres Sanshiro
الاسم العربي : سانشيرو
أسماء أخرى : Plastic Model Wrestling Sanshiro
======> : PlaWrestle Sanshiro
======> : Puraresu Sanshiro
شركة الانتاج : Asatsu DK & Kaname Production
الحلقات الأصلية : 37
الحلقات العربية : 26
مدة الحلقة : نصف ساعة
النوع : الرّياضات ( المصارعة ), الرّوبوتات, الخيال العلميّ

فريق العمل

المخرج : Kunihiko Yuyama ==> مُخرج البوكيمون
السيناريو : Junki Takegama & Kenji Terada & Kosuke Fujikawa
تصميم الشخصيات : Mutsumi Inomata & Shigenori Kageyame
المدير الفني : Shigeru Katsumata
الموسيقى : Yanusori Tsuchuchida
التأليف : Gyû Jirô & Minoru Kamiya

—————————————————————————-

Mystery solved….have a nice day