Book Review: One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis

persistently By | October 23, 2013

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What pulled me to this book is the notion of “running away” and leaving everything behind to start a new life on a whim. Emily wakes up one day and boards a train from Manchester to London without telling anyone, leaving her loving family behind because of something grave that happened a while back. The idea of the book is to accompany Emily through her days as a new unknown person in London while trying to figure out what went wrong exactly in her life.  Eventually you will know what her secret was and how having a twin sister doesn’t guarantee a friend for life and indeed you will be quite surprised at the twist in the story. Read more »

Why Do We Avoid the Subject of Saving Money in Kuwait?

By | September 30, 2013

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As September is drawing to a close I sit back and wonder how fast will it feel before we celebrate 2014? I didn’t care much for how 2013 turned out so far but I suppose there is still hope that the last quarter would make up for it. Speaking of which, I came upon something, a discovery if you may, when I was talking to a “friend” a few weeks back that got me pondering the matter of trying to save a bit of money from your income and the response I got from the friend, as if I had grown two heads and began spitting fire like a dragon, left me dumbfounded to say the least.  Read more »

The Long Drive Home

By | September 17, 2013

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She got in her little silver car after a long exhausting day at the office. Already late for her lunch and nap time because of work, she sluggishly pulled out of the parking and onto the traffic light. This traffic light in particular is the worst one she ever stood for, for it takes almost five minutes until it lights up again. Eye-lids drooping dangerously, she feared she might fall asleep on the ride back home so she forced herself to listen to the noisy radio station, cranking up the volume as high as she could. Read more »

How to Blog in Two Languages at Once?

By | September 10, 2013

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When I first started writing in my blog, almost five years ago, choosing the language to write it wasn’t an issue. Most of the blogs out there were in English, expressing yourself in Arabish wasn’t frowned upon or considered annoying, plus the language of the internet whether you like it or not is English and so are all your settings and blogs you read. Personally, I chose my laptops without an Arabic keyboard just because I find Arabic and technology a bit exhausting. Read more »

Thinking of a Time Capsule Project

By | August 19, 2013

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I was watching TV yesterday when a group of people in some series decide to dig up a time capsule they buried during their childhood and open it with their children. As the characters on the screen unearthed and opened up their time capsule, I felt a pang of excitement mixed with nostalgia waiting to see what they’d be displaying. Then I wished fervently that I had a time capsule of my own that I’d dig up one day and reminisce about the contents, but of course I never had and I suppose it’s a bit too late.  Read more »

The Cronuts Craze Has Arrived to Kuwait

By | July 29, 2013

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Cronuts, the latest culinary trend and most viral food craze across the globe, are a product of a marriage between a croissant and a donut. This new treat was invented by chef Dominique Ansel who, in May 2010, began selling his cronuts to the people of NYC and they’ve been the IT dessert sensation every since. The cornets are supposed to be unbelievably good. So good, in fact, that the people of Read more »

The Superfood Trend in Kuwait, Quinoa et al

By | July 21, 2013

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For the past year or two I’ve come to meet a new breed of food items, ones I cannot even prounounce let alone tried before or seen in a restaurant or tried to cook. Now all the hip foodies and health fanatics out there plus the well-known dieticians are encouraging their consumption and providing us with different dishes made with them. I thought I’d help Read more »

Armies of Crickets are Everywhere!

By | July 20, 2013

cricket2We noticed one yesterday, a lone greyish brown thing walking right past my couch as I was lounging in peace. In an instant the invading cricket was crushed underneath a pair of nearby crocs. I was astonished, where on earth did he come from exactly? Before I had the time to process that Read more »

What Happens if you Can’t Pay for your Restaurant Meal?

By | June 19, 2013

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This may be a strange matter to ponder but I can’t help do so. When we were children reading comics or watching old movies, when people cannot pay for their food in a restaurant the restaurant makes them either peel the potatoes or wash the dishes until the price of their meal is paid off. Read more »

Are Nakhi Containers a Health Hazard?

By | May 6, 2013

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Speaking of plastic boxes though the topic is eons away from fashion, I’ve been avoiding eating anything hot inside a plastic container that  could melt into the food for as long as I can remember. Why? There are always warnings that when plastic Read more »

What to do with Expired Bank Cards?

By | April 29, 2013

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One of the annoying things in life is having to change your expired ATM and Credit cards. They never seem to last long now, do they? You get them today, memorise the bloody PIN number, and next thing you know the thing is rejected and as you take a closer look, it is indeed expired and you need to get yourself a new one. Which of course involves a trip to the bank, something I never seem to have time to do.

This month my main two means of payments, Read more »

An Encounter with an Angry Delivery Man

By | April 22, 2013

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My mobile phone rang with a strange jumbled up number, over and over and over again within the space of a few minutes, until I finally succumb and answer it:

Me: Hello?

Man: Hello? This is house in -insert address-?  Read more »

When Vitamins Make you Hungry

By | April 21, 2013

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Lately I’ve been having trouble remembering things especially when trying to recall events registered in my short-term memory. Since I’m a fussy vegetarian and can never get enough protein and nutrients in me, I sometimes take supplements and one of which is the Vitamin B Complex pills. They do help in the memory department and the overall wellness thing. However, their side effect is the visible increase in appetite which means you are famished, all day everyday.

I’ve began taking them before going to bed with lots of water, but then I’d wake up ready to devour a small whale. Currently I’m ignoring the hunger pangs and keep drinking water but I’m wondering if there is anything else that would counteract the vitamins open appetite effect? Something to do perhaps or a certain timing or something to eat that won’t make you gain weight like crazy because of the pills? Any suggestions?

The Bygone Days of Cassette players

By | April 17, 2013

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The other day I was driving my husband’s car for the day since my own car was in the garage getting fixed. I stopped to refuel it with gas and since in Kuwait women don’t get out of the car to fill their car tanks up and my iPhone’s battery was dead I had nothing better to do to kill time but gaze at the dashboard of the car. The car I was driving was Read more »

Does the Number of Events Determine a Blog’s Worth?

By | April 16, 2013

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A person who reads my blog came up to me the other day and bluntly stated “Is your blog popular? Because I don’t see you get invited to as many events as the other bloggers in Kuwait!”

I was left pondering the statement for a bit, usually I let comments like this pass right over my head even though sometimes they provoke me to reply but in the end I find it better to just sweep them under the rug of human insanity. In this case however, I thought to clarify something that is extremely important to the concept of blogging in general and how it relates in Kuwait.  Read more »

Why don’t you Ride your Bike to Work?

By | April 2, 2013

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I saw a man heading to his to workplace today on a motorcycle.

The weather was gorgeous, warm with a cool breeze. Traffic was horrible even as early as 7 A.M. Roadworks didn’t help much in the traffic department. Drowsy car drivers almost slumped on their steering wheels -at least I was- waiting for the traffic sign to go green, and then there was this motorcycle slipping through traffic, not taking much space at all, and he made it to Read more »

Would you Donate an Organ to Save a Life?

By | March 26, 2013

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The other day I came about an ad for a campaign regarding organ donations in Kuwait. The concept is not new per say, only much less approached and talked about in our society. In terms of organ donation it’s common to see loving family members donate kidney’s or perhaps bone marrow to a matching sick member in need. Blood donations are also done easily, but what about other organ donations? Read more »

Do you Take Calls After a Certain Hour?

By | March 18, 2013

cmipc-016I remember a time in my life when time made sense to people. There was a certain cutoff time for going out, visiting, sleeping, watching TV, or calling people. Ever since the internet was introduced into our lives and we were taken up by the whirlwind of the smart phone usage time seems to make no sense to Read more »

What Can You Buy with a 10 Fils Coin?

By | March 12, 2013

IMG_0793-1A year or so ago when I did the “What can you buy with a 5 fils coin” (post) I thought that the 5 fils were the only coins you couldn’t use on their own to purchase something in Kuwait and you had to at least have 10 fils to buy something. Then I went looking around for something to buy for 10 fils and here is a list of things you can buy with a 10 fils Read more »

What Do You Believe In?

By | February 20, 2013

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Dear Al-Zain posted the following sentence on her instagram page yesterday, “State what do you believe in with one word”. It got me thinking of what I believe in that is usually disputable and hence I decided to share and see if Read more »

What Makes a Good Blogger?

By | February 18, 2013

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This question have been circulating in my mind for quite sometime now. What makes a good blogger? Owning a Read more »

Why Didn’t We Make it Into Mensa?

By | February 13, 2013

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Ever since I was a child I’ve heard about fellow humans with super intelligence joining the Mensa That is, an organization whose members are people who scored a very high level in some IQ test. I always fantasied that I would one day take that test and discover I Read more »

Are We Supposed to Recycle Medicine?

By | February 10, 2013

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Over the years and after every visit to a doctor when I get ill, or simply a visit to Boots in the UK, I’ve acquired a great and big collection of different forms of medicine. Tablets, capsules, syrups, drops, ointments, bandages, antiseptics, vitamins, antibiotics, etc. As a result I now have an actual handbag filled to the brim with my pharmaceutical loot and use them within realistic limits of their expiration date. I won’t be throwing out a good antibiotic just Read more »

Pathetic or Smart: Begging Your Way into Events?

By | February 6, 2013

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I’m astonished with every passing day at the lengths some people would go to to attend a blogger’s event and sadly we’ve seen with our own eyes bloggers that no one had heard of before because they just started yesterday shamelessly asking the event organizers shamelessly to be invited as well or even fighting Read more »