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Remember my post about Brazil National Football team coming to Kuwait for the official opening of Jaber Stadium? I just received semi-confirmed news that Kuwait Football Association has got the initial approval from FC Barcelona to come to Kuwait for a friendly football match against Kuwait National Football team at Jaber International Stadium. The football association claims that the game with Brazil National Football team was cancelled because they wanted the full team and not just the secondary players to participate in the game just like what happened when FC Barcelona came to Kuwait back in 2009 if I remember correctly.

According to Football Association the negotiations will continue once the on-going UEFA Champions League is finished (by the way, the 4-0 against Bayern Munich was Ouch). I’ll make sure to provide you with more details once I get them.

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I always heard the notion”Kuwait the past, Dubai the present, Qatar the future” when ever the topic is regarding the urban development within the GCC region but frankly I never believed that simply because I believed that Kuwait can still catch up with the development we see in neighboring countries since we got all the required resources such as funding (I’m talking money, we have surplus)) and workforce and all we lacked is the decision making. I’m still hoping that my belief is still valid even though there are things that point to the other direction.

A friend of mine from Doha has sent me 3D presentation for a new “dreamy” project so called Doha Bay Crossing which will be an underwater tunnel connecting downtown to Sheraton Hotel. I recall another video Hamad International Airport (HIA) which was recently open and considered one of the largest and most advanced airports in the region and can handle over 29 million annual passengers. However what I personally loved about HIA is that it was completed as per the planned schedule as per uncle Wikipedia, something that we obviously lack in Kuwait mega projects. I’ve visited Qatar last summer and I must tell you it’s indeed one of the fastest developing countries in the whole region. I must admit I’m being envious since I really wish to see the mega projects in Kuwait such as New Kuwait International Airport terminal, Kuwait Metro Project, Jaber Causeway, City of Silk (see below image) and other planned (or should I say promised?) projects to be implemented so we could move forward.

Now the million dinar question; is the speculation regarding Kuwait catching up with development is still feasible or is it far fetched considering the givens?

Thanks [Hamed][Tazmania]

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The salesman at Comtel has called me earlier today to tell me that Samsung Galaxy S4 has just arrived in store for KD240 (expensive just like I expected), it’s also available at Mobile 2000 and I guess it will arrive this week at X-Cite, Eureka and to the three operators (Zain, Viva and Wataniya Telecom) which will most likely offer it through a yearly contract. Myself and our old blog friend Tazmania (he says he misses you all) have went over to Comtel to play around with the S4 to get our initial impression. As expected, Samsung Galaxy S4 looks and feels like it’s older brother S3, they have mainly enhanced the hardware (processor, memory, display, camera, battery). It did feel faster and smoother, plus it was kinda lighter and thinner than S3. 

Though the salesman wasn’t sure if their model was the 3G or 4G. I think it’s time to go for 4G since Zain and Viva are currently providing 4G LTE network. Also the fair price should be around KD200 so time is our friend here. Those who are in rush to get S4, just make sure it’s the 4G model and make sure there’s a valid warranty. The S4 prices are as follow:

Zain: KD202

X-Cite: KD202

Comtel: KD240

Mobile 2000: KD240

Al Babtain: KD202

Best Al-Yousifi: KD200

Eureka: TBA

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I’ve been seeing this new restaurant so called Rio which is located next to Uban in Kuwait City for a while now, though all I knew is that it has Brazilian concept but that’s all. So last night I decided to pass by Rio and see what is it all about, luckily I was having my coffee at Salhiya which is only 5 minutes drive from Rio. As I arrived I had difficulty finding parking spot but fortunately there was a free valet service. As I stepped inside Rio I was warmly welcomed from the staff, “What does churrascaria means?” I asked right away, “Oh it means Brazilian steakhouse” the lady supervisor replied.

So Brazilian steakhouse it is, that’s good because I’m a steak lover after all. Inside it was medium sized with simple interior design; dimmed lighting with small and big tables scatted around, hidden A/C, fancy chandeliers. The glass walls gave the interior more spacious feeling. As I grabbed the relatively small menu and started seeing what they serve I started to get the real concept behind Rio, it’s not a traditional steakhouse where customers order a steak type in 250g, 300g, or 400g and then choose sides but instead customers in Rio pay fixed price (KD15.5 for adults & KD7.5 for kids) for main meat course, one salad order, and 6 side dishes. This concept is new to me but I overheard that there’s another Brazilian restaurant at Free Zone in Shuweikh called Cuts that has the same exact idea.

So after selecting my starter salad (plain Caesar salad) and the 6 sides; sorry I can’t recall exact names but they were mashed potatoes, rice, mushrooms, fried potato chips (see picture below) they gave me a circular token with red on side and green on the other, they said they will continue serving me (re-fill) as long I’m displaying the green side, so basically it’s like I’m saying there’s more room for food.

They started off serving cheese bites and my Caesar salad (both tasted good for starters). Afterwards, waiters started to come one after the other each carrying a skewer with different meat course and serve me with slices of each. The meat courses were medium cooked (customers can ask for well-done) and included tenderloin, flank steak, rumps, ribeye, chicken sausages, grilled shrimps, grilled pineapple…etc.

I was tasting each meat course. Generally all those I tasted were fine but I personally favored the tenderloin and grilled chicken slices. I asked about the source of the beef, they said all meats are USDA beef grade. My check was KD15.5 plus the price of my diet soda because they said all drinks and desserts are not included in the fixed price. Also sodas are not refillable. So did I like Rio? I gotta say I enjoyed the concept of Rio and the food tasted good and quantities were adequate, it’s not the best tasting steak out there but generally was of good quality and taste.

Rio is currently in soft opening phase, they are open from 7:00 pm to 11:00n pm daily. We appreciate if you share your opinion about Rio with all of our readers in case you try/ied it.

[Show as slideshow]

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Are you into basketball and follow NBA? Well, I received this invitation for Hoop Mountain Basketball Camp in Kuwait that will be hosting the former NBA pro basketball ball player Adam Harrington. The organizers said the event will include:

• Basketball Clinic.
• Dunk Showcases.
• Lottery Draw (a chance to shoot a 3 point Basket & Win a Holiday Package for two).
• Meet players and coaches.

Now the great news, I’m willing to giveaway the ticket, just submit any comment and you are eligible to win.

Where: Al Bayan Bilingual School, Hawally.

When: Saturday 27th April at 10:15 am

Winner: We used Random.org for the draw, winner is commenter#2, congrats.

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