Back to School

New day...
Tomorrow is the 1st of September, the 1st of Ramadan, and the first day for us, Educators, back in schools.

Same school...
Ever since I got this job three years ago I never had the chance to stay in one school, until now; I've been transferred three times, once every year, but this year marks my return to the same school. Fingers crossed so I don't see my transfer papers waiting for me tomorrow.

Déjà vu...
Same school, same management, same colleagues, old+new students. Can't wait to get back to my good students and can't wait to straighten some 3agad.

Same old stupid routine...
Ramadan: From 8:30AM till 1:30PM ... SIT DOWN.
After Ramadan: From 7:30AM till 1:30PM ... PLAY BALL.

Back to school people...
EVERYBODY DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME TWENTY!!

& Ramadan kareem everyone.

New MacBook Pro, soon...

Hold your horses everyone, according to AppleInsider.com new MacBook Pro (and maybe MacBook) models are expected in the market the next few months. [link]

I guess I'll have to wait for a little bit more.

2009 Infinity FX50

The first thing you spot about this new model is that as much as it looks appealing it's not really that good looking. The older model had that brutal look up it's front but in this they have worked too hard to make it look atrocious though the only thing they have managed to bring out of it is Moomin look-a-like SUV.

Without its 21-inch wheels this Moomin wouldn't even be categorized as a SUV. It sits very low to the ground and with a longer wheelbase than the X5 and Cayenne I doubt it's 4WD is of any convenience for off-roading.

On the other hand, however, this peaceful Moomin is not really as peaceful when it comes to digits; this hippo hides a 390HP 5.0L V8 engine (fuel efficiency is a sad story). 0-100kph in 5.2 seconds just a tad slower than Cayenne Turbo. Sportier yet very classy interior than BMW X6 makes the FX50 the best yet most ugly SUV to buy.

-- More info on Infinity FX50 [link]

Bossaball Kuwait

"Bossaball is a sport invented in Belgium. It is similar to volleyball, but also includes elements of football (soccer), gymnastics and capoeira. Each side of the court has an integrated trampoline, allowing players to bounce high enough to spike the ball, and a number of inflatable barriers."

If you want a stupid game to kill some time and rupture some muscles then Bossaball is the game for you.

I have played it three times so far (when it was at GUST university and now at Kuwait Handball Association) and I just can't force myself to like it. In fact according to my own statistics 3 out of 5 think its dull because first of all it needs some monkey skills and second of all it gets boring by time.

As the saying "Big show, no go", you can see in the video expert Europeans hired to demonstrate the game here in Kuwait. Smart but not enough to impress me with the game.

Bottom line: This game has less potential than killing ants with magnifier. And for 25KD per hour you know you're blowing your money away. I'd rather spend that on renting a football field.

Bossaball Kuwait [link]

Wikipedia is Accurate

The coolest T-Shirt on BustedTees ever. [link]

I guess I'll need to update my Wikipedism theory. :P

Starbucking

Crazy? Obsessive? You name it. This guy has worked his way to fame but damn that's just stupid! I wonder what would happen to him if he goes into The Avenues.

Flash Earth

It's not the first and definitely won't be the last site of its kind but the design and simple layout of this amazing flash site makes it stand out. Check out FlashEarth.

Also don't miss other projects from the designer Paul Neave located on the top menu, they're really impressive.

Random Act of Kindness + 3agad = Zero

It's funny how people reject kindness when they should be thankful. I mean how hard is it to say "Thank you"?

Today I had to go pick my brother from the airport and while waiting for his delayed flight (damn Al-Jazeera Airways) I thought I'd get me a cup of hot chocolate and wait for him in Starbucks.

I stood in line and in front of me there was this 3gaidi who can barely speak proper Arabic so you can imagine how Good^-1 his English is. He was arguing with the cashier over 50 Fils short and he didn't have any more money. That moment I happened to have 50 Fils in my pocket and all in good will I gave the cashier the 50 Fils to complete the 3gaidi's order. That's where it backfired at me.

Mr. 3gaydi here refused to let me give the cashier the money, frowning like if I had stuck rotten cheese up his nose and starts blabbering with the "ya walad...etc." bullsh!t.

I kindly asked him to accept it because there is no way they will give him his order without paying it full but, as stubborn as all 3agad in this universe, he backs up and cancels his order and takes off.

I'm the one to be blamed trying to be generous with one of those stupid creatures. I should have saved myself the hassle and kept the 50 Fils to myself.

^{x2 = 27!}

Euro Trip - Part 3 | Holland

I've come to the final part of my trip review, Netherlands.

We took off from Leende aiming for Rotterdam but first we had a couple of diverts. We went to Maastricht and Eindhoven but unfortunately both cities were dead because it was a Sunday. We stayed in Eindhoven for a few hours, had lunch, then went on completing our journey to Rotterdam where we stayed in The Westin Hotel, a quality super-style five star hotel worth every Fils we spent.

The next day we wandered around Rotterdam but it was too dull with no amusement except cinemas so we decided that we deliver the car back to Europcar and the next day take the train to Den Haag or better known as "The Hague", a beautiful city with a lot of tourist attraction and activities.

The next morning we arrived at Scheveningen, Den Haag and we headed to Madurodam, a miniature park of the hot spots in Netherlands. If you want to see Holland in one day just go there.

Then we took the tram to the main district of Scheveningen and my God it was haven on earth. The open sea with that cold breeze and partly cloudy skies will make you never want to come back to Kuwait and its deserts. I even wanted to go Bungee jumping but my friend started making excuses. Instead we became silent observers watching a girl doing the crazy jump.

And last but not least for the last day in our trip we stayed in sin city, the land of the queers, or whatever it's called... Let's just name it Amsterdam. Although it's a great place for shopping, Amsterdam is no place for family. There is no way you can walk fifty meters without passing by either gay couples, gay clubs/bars, weed & marijuana stores/cafes, or even encountering the unmentionable. Of course that was the main reason why we had to cut our stay short and head back to the hotel to get ready for our trip back home.

Now I leave you with some random shots in from the last part of my trip, Holland...

Madurodam




Scheveningen







Amsterdam

Fiorentina FC signing Kuwaiti goalkeeper Ibrahim Al-Faresi

"KUWAIT (KUNA): General Manager of the Italian football club Fiorentina Sandro Mencucci will hold a press conference tomorrow, Sunday, to announce the signing of a transition contract of Kuwaiti goalkeeper Ibrahim Al-Faresi to the team. Fiorentina was ranked fourth in the Italian League for Professional Football (Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico) last season. The Italian delegation will arrive this evening, accompanied by Al-Faresi's sport agent to seal the deal. Should the contract is signed; Al-Faresi would be the first Kuwaiti player in the stars-studded and widely-observed Italian League."

I'm surprised. Not that I doubt we have talents in the country but the fact that Ibrahim Al-Faresi doesn't play for a local team. I guess ramadan tournaments have better future for players than our retarded league. We better wish him luck.

- Some quick stats about Ibrahim Alfaresi [link]

UPDATE: Just got this over email...

Quote: "A young Kuwaiti football player called Ibrahim Al Faresi got signed to a top Italian football team, the problem is no one had heard of him before. So who exactly is Ibrahim Al Faresi?

A couple of years ago Ibrahim was playing football with his friends in front of the Bulgarian embassy here in Kuwait when an employee at the embassy took notice of Ibrahim and told him he should go play football in the Bulgarian league. He offered to help him and hook him up with the right people so Ibrahim decided to take the chance and traveled to Bulgaria where he tried out for a football team and ended up joining them.

After awhile Ibrahim realized he wanted more and so went to the FIFA website and sent an email to a licensed agent so he would be able to travel and play in any club without issues. His new agent took him to England first where he was going to get signed to Crystal Palace F.C. But due to the fact that if you want to play in the English Premiership you need to have a work permit and also need to have played in your countries league at one point, Ibrahim couldn't join them.

His agent then took him to try out at A.C. Siena in Italy. While there a very famous goalkeeper scout called Senior Silvano who had previously discovered the worlds best goalkeeper Gianluigi 'Gigi' Buffon told him not to sign up with A.C. Siena and instead offered to have him trained more so he could get him signed up in a better team. Ibrahim accepted and went and trained under the guidance of Senior. After a short period Senior took him to try out for A.C. Milan and ACF Fiorentina. Fiorentina where right away impressed and instantly offered him a spot on their team.

And thats basically the story of Ibrahim. In a weeks time he is leaving Kuwait and heading to Italy for some medical test and some more training before officially signing for the club. Its a great story and it just goes to show that there are a lot of untapped talents here in Kuwait. I've always believed that there are some amazing football players here in Kuwait but I think the football league here is just not as strong as it used to be to draw in these talents. Hopefully this story will prove to be an eyeopener."