As the first time, they are generous with their portion which got me running till around 9:30 PM. 2 major pet peeves and one pisses me off more than the other are:

1. Salad dressing portion.. In comparison to the size of the salad I think you guys could just have a bigger container with more dressing or just add 2 ! Unless we have to order extra?! @@

2. I complained from this the first time but you either gotta change the type of onion you use (Red ones) or do something about it! Rinse it after cutting! It’s too strong on my palate and a salad is not a salad unless it contains onions! what’s wrong with shallots – scallions or regular White onion?!  I am not sensitive to onion but I had to nod to people – avoid being too close because I don’t have a tooth brush – paste on me nor had I chewing gum! Reminds me of Ramadan .. he he he

Everything else was ok, I like how the salad was diced and it is clean (Although I didn’t inspect the lettuce as I do with other restaurants) I think I was really hungry to give a rat’s ass anyways !

I was like Holly crap! What is Microsoft doing there! Hall 8 had those IT companies which individuals don’t really care for – we all know what attracts such exhibitions – fairs visitors & with InfoConnect it’s worse (reminded of the crowd at Gulnet stand) ! OMG But what I don’t get is the ice cream machine – “stage” like space where they placed dining tables – chairs and some people were having beverages!

That was really bad! I mean we understand that you got to feed the crowd but not in the middle! I HATE THE CARPET!

To get to halls 6-7 we had to go through the backside then outside and walk to see this! Rain messed the entrance so they decided to make a tile path! :o thakkarni bel aflam el ma9ri o el 7awary with the sewers problems!

I pretty much think one has to be fully prepared for events to hold – circumstances which pop up when you handle events – construction work while fair is up n’running!

I got pissed off because I ruined my boots! I WAS IN HEELS!

Why don’t you at least learn from this!??!?!?! [ ADNEC ] ! Shame Tsk Tsk Tsk !

I bet like a lot of you, I kept on receiving email shots on deals on Souq.com; Curious as I am- I decided to register and I actually scanned each section as well as items till I laid my eye on this product:

I decided to get out my purse, punch in my plastic’s number to purchase it for Alma since she’s been showing interest in holding the spoon and plate while feeding her and if you don’t know how this works, check the video [ HERE ]

Fine so far right?! Amount (KD 5 only) was deducted from my Visa and I sat there waiting for some sort of conformation via email or phone but nothing happened! Suddenly I received 3 different confirmation receipts with totally different numbers! @@ That’s’ when i started jumping in my seat and looked but a number to contact them. 22248700 was pathetic, no one picks up besides their IVR system which is badly recorded BTW! As far as other contacts I found that they have offices outside of Kuwait and that’s when my heart sank to my feet :I I was like this is a scam specially after using my credit card!

like half an hour after, phone rang and one of their agents confirmed my order and I asked: “When am I getting it?” He replied: “Today no, Friday Saturday vacation so 2 working days which means Monday”

The number which no one picks up and their confirmation

Weekend passed by, Sunday went bye so did Monday! And I was home because of the flu so I was waiting for any sign! After giving up I sent this and I seriously meant every word and I was worried

I was so pissed off due to their negligence and disrespect to their own delivery policy

You see, it was my first time – probably the last time because of that PERSON who engaged with me on this email thread! I was going to do other purchases but I thought to myself when I secure this simple item and test their client servicing then I might go ahead and knock myself out online shopping. Of course in between those emails I was on the phone waiting for someone to answer!

In cold blood, this person sends me this as a reply! Not acceptable, WHY?

1. Greeting – whole email style is poor wala punctuation wala nothing!
2. When a client sends an email from the first time you answer on the spot.
3. You’re supposed to be professional not as casual with clients using slang “you gonna”! <– Yo Yo !
4. Your answer wasn’t helpful since I know it’s been confirmed DUH!
5. According to your delivery policy, my item should have been at my doorstep on Monday MAX. noon time and you dare even mention a Wednesday! @@
6. I freaking paid my money ahead not upon delivery so I get some priority!

I was raging after this so I started being rude!

Yes I called them thieves and as a bad desperate strategy I even lied! :@ When you promise your clients something better make sure you can fulfill it! I really ticked off by bad client servicing.

And you guessed it right! NO ONE CALLED OR EVEN BOTHERED!

I left the mobile expecting a phone call to explain this or apologize at least for the delay but no one called and when I checked I found an email (which I can’t find in my inbox) but it clearly said and I am quoting this person:

You can cancel your order :) and we will return the money

AIWA! Mo ana sha77ata! AIWA! Yeah, RETURN MY 5 KD! Instead of being professional enough to apologize and go check on the matter then get back to me you advise me to cancel! la2, you know what I thought after this!? KEEP the damn 5 KD but I won’t spare you my mouth! I actually replied saying “Go ahead, make my day and cancel the order”! <- I can’t find this email thread at all! :@

Hmmmm! My reply was long – honest and I basically told him -her that they can go ahead and blacklist me if they want because they’d be crazy to think I would do any business with them in the future especially with this type of replying! la2 o el “regards” is the best part of this reply!

And most importantly of course is the threatening! I might be one of the nicest “worst” clients they might ever have to handle and this is what they reply with!? tsk tsk tsk! I didn’t give a crap honestly after that instead, I asked Oleana for the same item and she told me that’s in her next shipment so I booked one.

Yesterday around 3esha prayer (I think) I got a phone call from an unsaved number and I usually don’t pick up but this time I did. Hi’s and Hello’s Guy introduces himself as Youssef from Souq.com @@ – Was very quiet and relaxed on the phone and he asked if I had ordered something! I was like “ana fashakht el bala6 eb your employee over emails” = I gave your guy a hard time for my order – and last thing I know that it got canceled!! he assured me that it wasn’t and I got to dish out on the whole incident. Like a decent professional gentleman he apologized on behalf of his colleagues and started explaining… Now, I told him I don’t buy this excuse at all but them being under pressure because of their iPhone – iPad deal is not my issue, all I wanted instead is a follow up email – call and I would have been quiet. Thanks Mr. Sha’arawi for the phone call and for tolerating me over the phone, I know you are trying to do your best. :)

To cut this short, I got my Gyro bowl!

I am totally aware that this in the hands of my daughter will not be 100% spill proof but I think it’s a good option! It comes with a lid on for protection.

Dear Souq.com, I apologize for not extending our relation further after this incident although I got my item, your employee handling the emails was rude, unprofessional and he failed to keep his end by canceling my order.

And sadly enough, this is the email I get straight after I received the item:

All my respect and further business growth in the future.

Click on image to visit their website

Firin Bakery’s  the first of its kind in Kuwait with their Gluten Free cooked goodies. [ READ HERE ON GLUTEN FREE DIET ] Diets of that sort are specially needed for those who suffer from Gluten intolerance, Celiac Disease & Wheat allergies besides that, people who tend to be conscious about their health in general would like this place for sure.  

I’ve been following Firin Bakery on Twitter [ @firinbakery ] for a while and managed to drive by their shop in Hawally a couple of times but it was always closed! I kept insisting that they had their delivery service on so where do they operate it from!? Till I decided to go ahead today, park the car, get down and see if someone’s in or not and to my surprise, they were opened even the nice lady inside unlocked the door for me as she was busy placing the good on display.

There were more items still not on display like the walnut cupcakes and the cookies are else where.

I’ve also read that they had fatayer so I was craving that but it was too early in the morning and they only had sweets and since I have to go renew my subscription at Diet Center I said what the heck, I might as well eat well today!

Their packaging with the Gluten Free logo and the rolling pin (which happens to be the shape of their cute business card)

I ordered 2 coffee crumbles (individual size cakes) + Walnut Scone which I handed over to mother as I ate one coffee crumble. For a Gluten free cakes, that was pretty good and soft – moist! I never imagines that it would be like this since the stuff I got from mega markets before tend to be hard.

Delicious center consisting of Cinnamon!

I am no cupcake fan even when I make them at home so I skipped that and got me some cookies

3 of 2 types, Chocolate chip & Peanut butter. I liked the chocolate one more but you know it lacks that crumbly texture of a regular cookie as for the PB one, it was good but too heavy for me.

Now to be completely honest, Yes there is a necessity for such businesses and God bless them for the efforts, taste wise I really liked it and I can’t wait to try the savory fatayer but the bill was a party pooper for me! I mean what if I was considering ordering a large batch of cookies or scones for a gathering or to take over to my parents. Let’s say I am Gluten intolerant God forbid, this will burn my pocket! It is pricey specially for the size of the stuff they make.I won’t compare it to scones, cakes nor cookies we get from regular coffee shops because of the ingredients but they are much smaller in size so..

P.S: Sorry for the way this bill looks! I just remembered that I needed to take a picture of it!

Regardless, I would encourage you to check their tiny cute place out and try their coffee cake in particular (YUM) – fatayer when you get the chance and to those suffering from the above mentioned diseases – allergies, may you live long and healthy en sha2 allah and I hope Firin helps you with your diet.

For more information on Firin Bakery, visit their website [ HERE ], check their FB group [ HERE ] or follow them on Twitter [ @firinbakery ]. They are located in Hawally on Tunis Street, Phone number: 22666100.

Other reviews I know of on Firin Bakery by Mark [ HERE ] and Danderma [ HERE ] .

I celebrated my birthday on January – Friday 13th! and although the majority tend to be superstitious about that freaky date, mine was relaxing, full of love and wonderful! Clueless as I was to the surprise in the making, I helped my family a lot by providing them time for the cake to arrive as well as dinner so I went home to check if Dear Nanny had things done then left to my parents house… What no one knows except Julie ;p - LOL – is that playing on Instagram at my place, I managed to take a shot of this bug on our window

After that I was checking the Feed and spotted my name on a cake !

HAHAHAHAHA- Sorry Julz but that was sincerely funny!

So I kept quiet, played dumb and watched them buzz around the house trying to keep things ready and my husband was asking: “what do you wanna do tomorrow on your b-day?” or “I’ve got the feeling that I’m gonna mess my diet tonight” LOL !

I excused myself to go pray – more time for them to set the cake down and gather waiting for me ;p and it happened! All the clapping and singing! God, I am anti birthday celebrations :/ I’d consider every day my birthday if I’d receive gifts! >:)but what was really cool is having my Birthday cake done by Julie of [ A Little Sugar ] ! I’ve always wondered what they’d create – design for me and it came out beautiful as all her work.

A cute fully decorated cupcake on top of a Pink cake! So I’m full of sugar it seems ;)

Another view of “Me”

I love the details – which are all edible btw – on the cake!

That’s the top of the cupcake lady on top of the cake base – how cute! All is fondant covered and everything again I say is edible!

The saddest part was having to cut through the cake so we removed Mrs. Cupcake and dug in the cake base

Dear lord, if i hadn’t enough self control that things would have been eaten up by me! I took a thin slice of this chocolaty, yummy YUMMY goodness! OMG! The thing about Julie is she understands what her clients want and my husband told me he didn’t request a specific flavor but she know what I like :) chocolataaaaa <3

And because we got too curious on what was filled in cupcake lady, we cut through it to find a White cake with cream and cherries I assume! Equally delicious and fattening!

I was so happy to see the family gathered around the table, specially with Alma clapping (she does :) ) and smiling, my first birthday with her and enshallah many more to come. I was so happy that Mrs Julie managed to squeeze my cake on her already fully booked schedule because she’s always booked in advance mashallah!

I am happy that i got gifts: a Michael Kors watch, a Green ensemble which makes me look like a tree and I tweeted it and got hugged for it ;p

and my husband got me an Aigner watch! <3 My family knows – can understand my obsession to that brand! I have several watches of different colors to match any color I wear and the latest is a Black – Silver one with Pearl dial off the latest collection At Geneve Novelties..

The full “A” – Love the color BTW! Need Red ;p E7emmm

Thanks to those who made this memorable, thanks to Julie for the cake, thanks to those who sent in their b-day greetings and thanks Man for the gift and Alma :*

Previous posts on A Little Sugar read [ HERE ], [HERE ] & [ HERE ] or you could follow her on Twitter @A_LittleSugar & her FB group link’s mentioned in the beginning of this post.

Kan youm aswad o man7oos, the day we decided to “go on a date” as Dear Nanny called it – thinking of it now I think she might have been the one to jinx the whole setting!

You see, Since Pregnancy and needless to say akeed, every since delivery I have not been to the movie theater because of my sacrifice (LOL) and having no time for me and honestly speaking, we didn’t like what was showing so we opted to wait for [ Sherlock Holmes ] specially after the 1st part and I still remember how excited we were even after leaving the cinema. Since CinescapeQ8 have a Twitter account [ HERE ], I though I would ask because I was confused about the booking date. We wanted to go on a Friday and our booking was after 12 Am. They didn’t reply…

I dress up, take kid over to grandparents and ensure all house chores are done. At 11 PM, man & I head to the Avenue – I originally wanted to go to 360 but I swear to God I stayed on their stupid iPhone application more than 2 hours trying to book and it kept giving me an error message and I am stupid I didn’t snap that to keep as evidence! Even booking online was equally disgusting! 1. Couldn’t access my account!!! 2. Didn’t show vacant seats! So we ended up going to Mohallab to use the kiosk machine – ALSO SPENT LIKE 15 MINUTES because it just kept logging off! Let me stay on track here:

Again, 11 PM we head to the Avenue in spite the fact that we were an hour early but we wanted to avoid traffic, lines at their snacks bar  and most importantly be there first to watch the ads. After we bought everything I wanted to use the toilet before entering the movie and that security guy (Who happens to be Egyptian) advised us to wait… OK I WILL HOLD IT! After like half an hour I tell da man I need to go! I head towards the same guy and I go like: “3am, I really need to use the bathroom!” <– He looks at me, lets me in! ALTHOUGGGGGH we are god damn entitled to stay in the lobby – area if he takes the tickets! WTH! We pay so much for a censored movie and over priced snacks and we don’t get to use the lu! El mohem, I returned to the man and we saw the que forming to enter the movie so we stood. We are now like 5 seconds away for being allowed to go in the area in front of the movie hall and the man (The Egyptian dude) looks at the ticket and goes like: “El film etlaga” <– movie was canceled!! 55555 freaking minutes before it starts! So I looked at him and went like: “You knew it was canceled, why didn’t you inform us!” because it doesn’t make since that he was just informed, we didn’t see anyone coming out of the hall and the whole thing was full of contradictions! Man got pissed off and they were gonna fist fight :/ but people managed to pull them off. As advised by one of their security I dunno dudes in dishdasha, we head to client service guys and people were enraged! Everybody wanted to exchange or redeem money as the guy told us but since we don’t get to go out alone that much we decided to watch anything… Adam Sandler’s movie Jack & Jill: a complete waste of time, money and mental stability! yukh!

2 guys were covering the angry crowd and they had such an attitude man, only thing left for them to do is start swearing at people or beat them up! They were very rude especially the dark one! la2222 not that only! He shouted at a customer in front of us and as I asked him if he needed money from us he misheard me and told the other guy: “Ge6lehom flooshom” ! <– Throw their money at’em ! MF ! …… 3aleik bas it is our fault that we are decent with you! #Etfouh !

1. We came to know movie was canceled 15 minutes earlier and we were not informed.

2. Dishdasha guy said that KNCC sent emails apologizing for the inconvenience and informing people about the cancellation which never happened.

3. Dishdasha dude said if you don’t use the tickets today, you can some other time as other theaters were informed and I think that’s one big fat lie since no one notified us online

4. Again I asked the Twitter person and there was NOTHING, NO REPLY and after some time they decided to tweet on what happened! maskhara! That person even is not into what’s happening. Only thing that person does is Retweet and announce movies release!

Toz! I am not going to go to watch a movie there again (and that’s for now who knows what will they be showing in the future) ! but what reallllllly pisses me off is their tweep – the dude handling their account either has ordered not to reply to inquiries which is stupid because you’re misusing your social media medium or doesn’t understand English… some have suggested that it’s a Robot! lol sending automated tweets but no, they retweet good feedback and neglect – block – delete the actual ones which could help them fix their services – shame, you cant take criticism!

On a more desperate and very angry note, I decided to call & file a complaint against that person’s neglect to tweets and the reply – attitude I got was really bad, as if they don’t give a shit about what people have to say.

As Kuwaiti’s say: “Elsharha mo 3aleikom” – “Shame on us – it’s our fault” for wasting money on your tickets, crappy smelly halls and overly priced popcorn which got me poisoned the next day making spend new year’s eve at Dar El Shifa hooked to an IV drip!

La3yoon Ruby Tuesday Kuwait’s Tweep!

You know I like RT and I know I like RT! Only thing stopping me is my Diet Center diet plan but as soon as I get an off day, I will go hog on my favorite meal: Chicken Bella! and a Blondie as well! *drools*

Ruby Tuesday Kuwait’s having their Ribs festival which was and still is a big success. A variety of Ribs platters for your choice and liking - Dear Nanny said and I quote: “Deeliiii”shios” and you can read it [ HERE ]. I happen to be a huge fan of the person behind the Twitter account because she/he’s very active, interacts well with people and know what – how to answer if people address her/him but what I don’t get is a company like [ Cinescape ] deciding to have social networking media and handle it through inefficient individuals with all due respect but if you can’t answer a simple query or ignore tweets you don’t like and worse, block those who are trying to complain then might as well deactivate the account!

I will blog about Cinescape in details later! They need it!

I’ve watched my husband – jealously – lose weight after subscribing to [ Diet Center Kuwait ]  for a couple of months, not only that! Unpacking his meals box was so exciting because of the variety of food they make available to dieters and sometimes the portion would be so huge he used to allow me to share and back then I was a cranky, hungry -not knowing what to eat due to the Acid reflux and very lazy to do anything myself pregnant woman! Their food was good since it’s low in Sodium and they encourage less salt intake anyways. My favorite meal was the mushroom steak with rice and veggies.. I used to order that like 4 times a week!

7 months after delivery and my weight is dropping down very slowly :/ add to that not me being able to do some outdoor walking because kid is fussy and now with duty hours being so long it sounds impossible unless on weekends which I intend to do; Bottom line, husband decided to enroll me in Diet Center’s food course as a trial and see if it has significant results I would continue for 3 months at least.

First day of work I got the box early morning sadly enough you can’t take breakfast on the same day and keep it for the next one and I was hungry.

I have the full day plan – breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snack… all very good- actually, you get to pick out your meal ahead and they figure out the portion based on the calories the dietitian calculates for you and I am supposed to have 1050 calories a day! BAS! I was dying on the first day but again it’s adjustable. We have an appointment today to check on our weights and I think pick up food items for the next 10 days.

Basically it’s the 5 small portioned meals that we are supposed to have all day long in one box, taste wise Diet Center is great! I’ve known it ever since I first tried in Lebanon when they initially launched their services. Aunt used to get their mana2eesh (it’s like a Lebanese pizza) and freeze them yum! I lost so much weight on those it was insane! I am particularly in love with their dessert.. guilt free ya3ny ;p Only con is their plan price but I understand that the quality of meals and freshness of ingredients are their main concern besides, we’d spend much more than that dining outside the house!

You can follow them on Twitter @DietCenterkw , or visit their website [ HERE ] which allows you to go through their menu and learn more on their services.

It’s been like 2 weeks already since Nanny dearest arrived to our household, I’ve got mixed feelings about welcoming a stranger into our small family and what makes it harder is the amount of horrific news we read in newspapers on “domestic assistants” going insane with all the crimes they perform on sometimes innocent people. You see, it truly comes down to the simple basic word of “RESPECT”! Treat them how you like to be treated of course with certain imitations i.e not have her lie down on the couch while you are around .. E7m ! I am not going to further discuss this issue because some get touchy & start placing unnecessary accusations and we all know what some of these maids go through – doesn’t give them the right to murder, torture, run away, steal.. etc but I feel they do this out of their despair and YES I think they need to have some psychological / behavior assessment prior to bringing them over.

“LOL” was the SMS I got from the man when her went to pick her up, I called back frantically feeling that something went wrong. When he didn’t pick up I replied back saying: “If she’s not the same person as on her application DO NOT BOTHER bringing her home” ! Assuring that she’s the same person, I waited for them to ring the doorbell and I held Alma excited yet very anxious I opened the door and I laughed! Dude, I am 158 cm and they call me short huh! SHE IS SHORTER than me @@ I handed Alma who’s almost half her body height lol ! let’s see how she’d carry her as she grows taller!

I am not going to sugar coat what happened through those last few days especially with the man who calls her “you durra” – second wife – I tried in my own way to explain as show in practice how things are done around the house, how baby is cleaned, fed, put to bed and they all told me to be patient since she’s getting familiar with my style of running the house but how many times do you show one how to do something specific!? and to be completely fair I am satisfied with her today for the first time since she came!!!! She took the baby to let me “work” as she thinks :p and I can hear them playing outside and that was done by telling Alma “Yalla, let’s let mama work!” Cool!! Besides the fact that the house is spotless clean, laundry is done, dishes are washed and everything’s tidy in its right place (I much obsess on that) and she knows that by now. I have not seen major signs of her being a bad nanny and we much debated on having some type of surveillance equipment in the house but we agreed on observing how the baby reacts to her. Baby sometimes is agitated by her but we know that Alma is hyper and is too attached to me so I was instructed to butt off and let her deal with the child to further learn about her personality yet one cannot confirm if this is (having a nanny) is a good or bad decision unless at least after a couple of months and I sure do hope she gives back (taking care of the baby) like we’ve given her so far and I’m going to keep my mouth sealed since I was instructed not to blog about the nanny but I feel I need some feedback or some of your personal experience with your baby caregivers i.e do you let them go out on a day off? Does your nanny have a mobile?! How do you point out / emphasize on something wrong that she’s done?

Tidbits of the day:

1. Sleeping till 12 PM !

2. Nanny had everything done around the house which includes changing Alma when she woke up early in the morning + preparing her bottle

3. Nanny keeping baby away for me to “work” lol

4. Having some “me time” during morning because I’ve recently turned nocturnal!

5. Did lunch within 30 minutes

How do YOU feel about having a nanny in your house?

As received via email:

Are you tired of your daily routine? Feeling uninspired? Is your wallet burning a whole in your pocket, and you just have to spend your money on something artsy and different? Well the CAPS on carnival is for you.

GUST University is hosting its first and only CAPS on carnival on the 14th & 15th of December and it would delight us that you attend. Come show your support for new and old talents alike. Help them believe in themselves by showing your appreciation. Who knows you just might feel inspired to be in their place.

The carnival will host an array of talents, ranging from photography, art, crafts and many others. There will be shows and competitions going on through the length of the carnival. An auction will also be held, where pieces of art and photography will auctioned off to the highest bidder and all proceeds will go to dar elaytam “دار الايتام”.

 

So what are you waiting for? Get your CAPS on! and head on to GUST on the 14th & 15th of December.

It’s Time To Unleash Your Creativity, it’s time to put your caps on

photography, painting, drawing, crafting, designing, knitting or even cooking, this is the carnival where you reveal it all!

The C.A.P.S oN Carnival at GUST “Click – Art – Perform – sing” on the 14th-15th of december

Book your booth NOW by contacting:

Mobile: 99031124 / 97313861

BBM: 21A9B317