Absolutely beautiful! So much better than when you see the same thing on a card or cute email!

Absolutely beautiful! So much better than when you see the same thing on a card or cute email!

For those of you who have been regulars at my blog, you probably have seen my previous restaurant reviews, the Gaucho Grill and Le Notre breakfast. Some of you have enjoyed them and I promised to make it a regular thing, but unfortunately didnt have time to do that.

Today, I did have a chance to go to a restaurant and review it too! The restaurant of choice today is Edo, in Alsha’eb, near Villa Fairouz. Before I do the review, I have to give a background on the whole situation. I got an email from Purgatory72, saying he was coming to Kuwait and that, as promised, we should meet for dinner sometime. So when he got back to Kuwait, I got an sms from him, and we decided to go for dinner and sheesha, and nibaq will be joining us. Since I personally knew nibaq, I figured it will be safe, and I wont be killed by Purg, who always has terror and death on his own blog!

Turns out Purg is a really nice guy! Same with nibaq of course, who really doesnt get enough credit for the amazing work he does at kuwaitblogs and how he has contributed in making this whole blogging thing alot easier and more of a community! We met up for sheesha first to watch the game at Layaly Al7ilmiya, the game sucked, we lost, it ended, we left to Edo.

We got there at around 10:30, and to my surprise there were actually 2 other tables. The place is one of the better designed restaurants in Kuwait. It is basically a lounge/bar waiting to be legalized. Very contemporary and simple designs and colors, very relaxing, and the Japanese touches were evident only in the outside garden (which was full of stones or gravel Japanese style), and the sushi bar that you see once you enter. The music is also very loungy and is a very nice diversion from the usual crap music in every other restaurant in Kuwait!

The main difference between this restaurant and most others is the table distribution. My theory on why Edo is mostly empty is because of their table distribution. The people in charge of the restaurant seem to forget an important factor in dining experiences in Kuwait, which is the fact that many people pick their destination depending on how likely they are too see and be seen by others (ala maki, nino….etc). In Edo, the setup is obviously more intimate and not aiming at the Kuwaiti youth market, and it shows with the crowd, the two tables were a table of Lebanese, and another with a French group. I personally enjoy the seating (and the crowd), you honestly dont feel like you’re in a restaurant in Kuwait.

Anyway, to the food…..please note, if you are not a sushi eater, this review is useless to you, we only had sushi along with appetizers.

We started with starters consisting of a chicken yakatori, seafood dumplings, and beef tataki. The dumplings were good, the tataki (thinly sliced raw beef) is excellent and highly recommended, and I didnt try the yakatori (chicken skewers), Im not a big fan of getting cooked food in Japanese restaurants.

For our main, we ordered 7 different kinds of maki, and to be honest they were all excellent! I cant recall everything we ordered but ill take a shot -

• Tokyo roll
• Dragon roll
• Lady Salmon
• Edo Crispy maki
• Sapporo roll
• Salmon scallop maki
• Osaka roll

The sushi was nearly flawless! I have been to Edo on many occassions before, but yesterday’s was the best by far. I say nearly flawless only because they were out of tuna, but then again, it isn’t just them, most sushi restaurants in Kuwait seem to be out of tuna for prolonged periods of time!

The service was very prompt and was very good, except for the part were something was spilt on the table, and the fact that it took the waitress about 3 centuries to pour my diet pepsi into my glass! But other than those two very minor things, the service was very good.

As for the price, I have to admit the place is above average in its prices. Not crazy expensive, but still more expensive than other sushi restaurants in Kuwait (trust me, I’m an expert and a sushi addict).

Overall….I would definitely recommend Edo. Its not the most active place in town, but its a nice intimate place, and probably would be perfect for business lunches or dinners. The ambiance and the food are both excellent, The service is very good, and the price is average to say the best.

Final grade - 81/100

For those of you who have been regulars at my blog, you probably have seen my previous restaurant reviews, the Gaucho Grill and Le Notre breakfast. Some of you have enjoyed them and I promised to make it a regular thing, but unfortunately didnt have time to do that.

Today, I did have a chance to go to a restaurant and review it too! The restaurant of choice today is Edo, in Alsha’eb, near Villa Fairouz. Before I do the review, I have to give a background on the whole situation. I got an email from Purgatory72, saying he was coming to Kuwait and that, as promised, we should meet for dinner sometime. So when he got back to Kuwait, I got an sms from him, and we decided to go for dinner and sheesha, and nibaq will be joining us. Since I personally knew nibaq, I figured it will be safe, and I wont be killed by Purg, who always has terror and death on his own blog!

Turns out Purg is a really nice guy! Same with nibaq of course, who really doesnt get enough credit for the amazing work he does at kuwaitblogs and how he has contributed in making this whole blogging thing alot easier and more of a community! We met up for sheesha first to watch the game at Layaly Al7ilmiya, the game sucked, we lost, it ended, we left to Edo.

We got there at around 10:30, and to my surprise there were actually 2 other tables. The place is one of the better designed restaurants in Kuwait. It is basically a lounge/bar waiting to be legalized. Very contemporary and simple designs and colors, very relaxing, and the Japanese touches were evident only in the outside garden (which was full of stones or gravel Japanese style), and the sushi bar that you see once you enter. The music is also very loungy and is a very nice diversion from the usual crap music in every other restaurant in Kuwait!

The main difference between this restaurant and most others is the table distribution. My theory on why Edo is mostly empty is because of their table distribution. The people in charge of the restaurant seem to forget an important factor in dining experiences in Kuwait, which is the fact that many people pick their destination depending on how likely they are too see and be seen by others (ala maki, nino….etc). In Edo, the setup is obviously more intimate and not aiming at the Kuwaiti youth market, and it shows with the crowd, the two tables were a table of Lebanese, and another with a French group. I personally enjoy the seating (and the crowd), you honestly dont feel like you’re in a restaurant in Kuwait.

Anyway, to the food…..please note, if you are not a sushi eater, this review is useless to you, we only had sushi along with appetizers.

We started with starters consisting of a chicken yakatori, seafood dumplings, and beef tataki. The dumplings were good, the tataki (thinly sliced raw beef) is excellent and highly recommended, and I didnt try the yakatori (chicken skewers), Im not a big fan of getting cooked food in Japanese restaurants.

For our main, we ordered 7 different kinds of maki, and to be honest they were all excellent! I cant recall everything we ordered but ill take a shot -

• Tokyo roll
• Dragon roll
• Lady Salmon
• Edo Crispy maki
• Sapporo roll
• Salmon scallop maki
• Osaka roll

The sushi was nearly flawless! I have been to Edo on many occassions before, but yesterday’s was the best by far. I say nearly flawless only because they were out of tuna, but then again, it isn’t just them, most sushi restaurants in Kuwait seem to be out of tuna for prolonged periods of time!

The service was very prompt and was very good, except for the part were something was spilt on the table, and the fact that it took the waitress about 3 centuries to pour my diet pepsi into my glass! But other than those two very minor things, the service was very good.

As for the price, I have to admit the place is above average in its prices. Not crazy expensive, but still more expensive than other sushi restaurants in Kuwait (trust me, I’m an expert and a sushi addict).

Overall….I would definitely recommend Edo. Its not the most active place in town, but its a nice intimate place, and probably would be perfect for business lunches or dinners. The ambiance and the food are both excellent, The service is very good, and the price is average to say the best.

Final grade - 81/100

Wild elephants “ambush” vehicles to survive in Thailand

KHAO-ANG RUE-NI, Thailand (AP) - These are classic, coordinated ambushes: a roadblock is set, and when vehicles stop the raiders sweep out of the thick jungle to strike their targets.

But rather than guerrillas, the attackers in Thailand’s Khao-Ang Rue-Ni wildlife sanctuary are savvy _ and desperate _ elephants, who hold up trucks loaded with sugar cane, tapioca and fruit.

For most of the year, the estimated 200 elephants live quietly in the dense forests of Khao-Ang Rue-Ni, near the Cambodian border in eastern Thailand. But with the onset of the dry season, when water and food supplies shrink, they move to the road to stage their heists and drink from a nearby reservoir, says the sanctuary’s chief, Yuo Senatham.

Conveniently for the elephants, this is also the time when hundreds of trucks rumble along the 15-kilometer (9-mile) road, laden with newly harvested tapioca and sugar cane _ particular pachyderm favorites.

According to Yuo, a herd leader usually emerges from the jungle at dusk to block the road. When a vehicle stops, other elephants move in from the rear to start gobbling up the goodies.

Roadside signs urging motorists not to feed the elephants seem superfluous.

“It’s like the drivers are bribing the elephants _ otherwise the elephants won’t allow trucks to pass through,” Yuo said, adding that the mightiest of the herd leaders, named Mae Phalaek, has never hurt a motorist and sounds a general retreat when wildlife officials arrive to shine spotlights on the culprits.

Villagers in the area also say they have never known the elephants to attack humans.

But this was no comfort for Somkuan Sirisat, who had to seek help when his tapioca-laden truck got a flat tire recently. He returned to find half a dozen elephants devouring his cargo.

“I was too frightened to go toward the truck,” said Somkuan, who rushed to the nearby sanctuary field station for help.

“We can’t prevent the elephants from roaming around the road because the area used to belong to them,” said the sanctuary chief. “What we can do is prevent them from getting hurt and hurting people.”

He explained that the Thai army cut the road through the 100,000-hectare (270,300-acre) sanctuary in the 1980s to facilitate the flow of supplies to insurgents along the Cambodian border, fighting the Cambodian government.

The plight of Thai elephants is not restricted to this reserve.

Chawal Thaphiran, who heads the Forestry Department’s Wildlife Conservation Division, estimated that of Thailand’s once vast herds, only about 3,000 wild elephants survive in national parks and other sanctuaries.

Deforestation and battered habitat have forced many to move into surrounding farming communities in search of food.

Another 2,800 elephants are domesticated, eking out a living as tourist attractions or beggars who roam Bangkok and other cities with their keepers.-AP

Wild elephants “ambush” vehicles to survive in Thailand

KHAO-ANG RUE-NI, Thailand (AP) - These are classic, coordinated ambushes: a roadblock is set, and when vehicles stop the raiders sweep out of the thick jungle to strike their targets.

But rather than guerrillas, the attackers in Thailand’s Khao-Ang Rue-Ni wildlife sanctuary are savvy _ and desperate _ elephants, who hold up trucks loaded with sugar cane, tapioca and fruit.

For most of the year, the estimated 200 elephants live quietly in the dense forests of Khao-Ang Rue-Ni, near the Cambodian border in eastern Thailand. But with the onset of the dry season, when water and food supplies shrink, they move to the road to stage their heists and drink from a nearby reservoir, says the sanctuary’s chief, Yuo Senatham.

Conveniently for the elephants, this is also the time when hundreds of trucks rumble along the 15-kilometer (9-mile) road, laden with newly harvested tapioca and sugar cane _ particular pachyderm favorites.

According to Yuo, a herd leader usually emerges from the jungle at dusk to block the road. When a vehicle stops, other elephants move in from the rear to start gobbling up the goodies.

Roadside signs urging motorists not to feed the elephants seem superfluous.

“It’s like the drivers are bribing the elephants _ otherwise the elephants won’t allow trucks to pass through,” Yuo said, adding that the mightiest of the herd leaders, named Mae Phalaek, has never hurt a motorist and sounds a general retreat when wildlife officials arrive to shine spotlights on the culprits.

Villagers in the area also say they have never known the elephants to attack humans.

But this was no comfort for Somkuan Sirisat, who had to seek help when his tapioca-laden truck got a flat tire recently. He returned to find half a dozen elephants devouring his cargo.

“I was too frightened to go toward the truck,” said Somkuan, who rushed to the nearby sanctuary field station for help.

“We can’t prevent the elephants from roaming around the road because the area used to belong to them,” said the sanctuary chief. “What we can do is prevent them from getting hurt and hurting people.”

He explained that the Thai army cut the road through the 100,000-hectare (270,300-acre) sanctuary in the 1980s to facilitate the flow of supplies to insurgents along the Cambodian border, fighting the Cambodian government.

The plight of Thai elephants is not restricted to this reserve.

Chawal Thaphiran, who heads the Forestry Department’s Wildlife Conservation Division, estimated that of Thailand’s once vast herds, only about 3,000 wild elephants survive in national parks and other sanctuaries.

Deforestation and battered habitat have forced many to move into surrounding farming communities in search of food.

Another 2,800 elephants are domesticated, eking out a living as tourist attractions or beggars who roam Bangkok and other cities with their keepers.-AP

Nun who allegedly threatened to discipline student is fired
Teacher said she’d knock out the boy’s teeth, his father says in harassment complaint.

WOODBRIDGE | A nun who allegedly threatened to discipline a student by knocking his teeth out has been fired by her school.

Sister Catherine Iacouzze was fired Dec. 7, several weeks after making the alleged threat against a sixth-grader who walked down the wrong staircase at St. Cecelia School in Iselin.

The student’s father had filed a harassment complaint with police on Nov. 11, the day of the alleged incident.

Iacouzze told the 11-year-old boy that he would ”have no teeth left in his mouth if he had an attitude with her again,” according to the complaint.

The 69-year-old Iacouzze, an assistant principal at the school, had been suspended by the Catholic Diocese of Metuchen while it conducted an internal investigation.

”The Diocese of Metuchen’s first priority is the safety of our children, and we regret that one of our teachers spoke to one of our children in a threatening manner,” diocese spokeswoman Joanne Ward said.

Iacouzze had worked at the school for about five years and served as an algebra teacher, guidance counselor and school disciplinarian.

She could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Her attorney, James Mackevich, said Iacouzze was misunderstood.

”There was never any indication she was going to hit him,” he told the Home News Tribune of East Brunswick. ”It was more sarcasm.

”She caught a problem child breaking rules. In that she used politically incorrect language, so be it. She did not make any physical threat to the child in any way, shape or form.”

Iacouzze is scheduled to appear at a hearing on the harassment complaint in Woodbridge Municipal Court on Dec. 28. (AP)