Kuwait blogger won Benihana lawsuit

Late January of this year, the blogging universe was stirred when blogger Mark of 248am was sued by Benihana over his negative reviews of the restaurant. Today, he gladly announced that he just won the lawsuit.

Like that day when the lawsuit was announced, the news of the court decision was widely welcomed by everyone. It just simply shows that freedom of speech is alive and is being respected in this country.

Here's to freedom of speech and expression not only in Kuwait, but everywhere.

Holy Week 2011

To my family and friends, here's my prayer for a blessed and meaningful Holy Week for each and everyone of us. May the Good Lord bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE HOLY WEEK

Let us walk the way of the Cross together

And move forward without fear into God’s eternal purposes

May we trust in God alone, then we will never know disgrace

In the midst of grief and despair

May we sense Easter springtime coming

Death’s dark and overwhelming night

Will give way to resurrection light

May we look and listen,

Responding to the Spirit of God who lives within us

May we throw off our grave clothes

And take on the life of the one who raised Christ from the dead

Lord have mercy

When I stand in the shadow of the cross

Christ have mercy

When I kneel with a repentant heart

Lord have mercy

And shine your resurrection light on us

(Reposted from http://godspace.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/prayers-for-holy-week-and-good-friday/)

Before the Tower, there was Al Hamra Cinema

I was browsing through my files from my previous office when I chanced upon these photos of the Al Hamra Cinema as it was before. Our office (LAS) used to do a lot of Master Planning studies and proposals for the development of Kuwait City and this area, Al Maqwa Al Shargi, where the cinema used to stand, was part of one of our studies. I don't know much about the history of this cinema, or even Kuwait in general, but I know this cinema was and will always be a part of each and every Kuwaiti families lives.





We took these photos during our survey of the area in 2003. The other photos in the set were taken in the latter part of 2004, I guess for sentimental reasons,  when the building was demolished to give way to the construction of the Al Hamra Tower.

These files had been stored in our hard disks since then, almost forgotten and in danger of being corrupted, deleted and worst, being lost forever.

More photos can be found on my Flickr account.

A little disclaimer though, I don't claim ownership of these photos. They are just uploaded for the sole purpose of sharing a rare glimpse of Kuwait history for the younger generations, citizens and for expats who arrived in Kuwait in the later part of the decade. All credits are due to LAS Architectural Consultancy Office.

Highway Man..FAIL!

I drove down South again today to check out the relocation area for our project site offices. While driving, I was toying with some photo ideas I want to do after my visit. I already had the photo in my mind- me as a highway trekker or something like that..its only a matter of execution and of course, location.

And so, on my way back to Kuwait City, I looked around for good location until I spotted this long stretch of road and decided to stop. I took my camera and tripod and prepared to make the shot. I was already doing some test shots, like 5 or 6 including the photo above, when a huge pick-up truck stopped by and parked in front of my car. A burly middle-aged man alighted from the vehicle and walked towards me. I quickly realized my mistake..I was shooting next to a pipeline!..I was aware of it but somehow I neglected it..stupid me.

At first I thought he is a police officer because of his khaki uniforms..Then he introduced himself, in good English, as the security officer for the area...He asked me in a polite manner what I was doing there and I explained to him I just came from our site and thought it was nice to have some souvenir pictures of myself in that area...He asked if I was not aware it is prohibited to approach or even take photographs there..He also asked if he can see the pictures I took so I let him.. He saw two photos of me sitting on the guard rails with the pipelines behind me and told me to delete them..I apologized and deleted the two photos with him looking while telling me not to do the same mistake again..of course I said yes..When everything was clear, we shook hands and drove our separate ways..

I could only shake my head and laugh for doing such stupidity...FAIL!

Desert Adventure + Funshoot Weekend

Last Friday, the LightBenders Photography Group drove down South for 2 important events: first is our induction as official members of the group (yey!) and second, as birthday treat of our resident designer/HMUA, Kenneth.I brought my family with me to experience the outdoors and to meet the rest of the LB families.

First stop was this beautiful rock formations at the outskirts of Khiran, some 90 kms. south of Kuwait. There in the looming shadows of the rocks above,we conducted our oath-taking as the first batch accepted by the group in their young existence..

LB Batch 1 (L-R): Amie, Mel, Alvin, Me, Verge, Rey and Johnny.  Photo by Diomil dela Pena

Just to be in the same company as these talented and creative individuals is already a rewarding experience by itself and to be formally inducted as one of them is just the icing on the cake..

LightBenders Photography Group in Kuwait. Photo by Johnny Dao

Next stop is at this camel farm in Wafra where we spent the rest of the day. There, in the middle of the desert, we had our barbecue/lunch, the children played around, and we simply had a good time, taking photos of the camels and their caretakers, and later on, an impromptu photoshoot with our guests turned models.

It was a fun and exciting day, a great outdoor experience indeed....I can't wait for more fun and creative shoots with the whole LB team...soon!

Road Scenes: Please Wash Me

Someone forgets to wash his ride...............and someone cares to remind him of that :)

SEEN: Would you like FRINCH FRISE with your normal BORGER?

I got hold of this menu from a neighborhood restaurant..Not counting the transliterated Arabic, see how many spelling mistakes can you find :)..

Don't you feel hungry ?? Would you like to have some CHICKEN STIK (chicken steak)? or some SUSEGE (sausage)? Me, I think I'd have a CLOP SANDWICH (club sandwich) and a serving of COLOSLO (coleslaw) on the side.. :)

Sarayat Season is here again

Here in Kuwait, the month of April is usually the onset of unstable weather conditions known as "sarayat". It is characterized by sudden changes in the weather day by day--from sunny to rainy, dusty to thunderstorms, and even with hailstorms at times. That massive sandstorm that hit Kuwait two weeks ago may have served as a prelude..and today must be the official start of the season..

The day started normal though there were already traces of dusts in the atmosphere as early as Saturday. Gradually, the day became darker and by around 10 am, thick dusts have already covered the skies. We're already expecting that construction work on our site will be suspended because of the conditions. We (me and my colleagues) were having lunch at The Avenues when they informed us that work at the project offices as well is being called off for the rest of the day. It marks the first time, at least since I joined, that office work has been cancelled because of the weather.

Here are some photos I took on my way home:

Workers at The Avenues Phase III construction site wait for their buses as work has been cancelled because of the sandstorm

Workers walk to their assembly area as work has been cancelled for the day

Workers wearing dust masks wait for their ride home. Work has been cancelled for the day because of the sandstorm.

Zoe steals Ate Cianna's show

Today, April 1, our family went to Cianna's school for their Annual Family Fun Day- a day of fun-filled activities for the whole family. The students from all levels were divided into four (4)color-coded teams as the Red Scorpions, Pink Panthers, Green Dragons and the Yellow Tigers, complete with their own gimmicks and team cheer. Activities include a cheering competition, a team dancing competition, best muse and escort and of course, parlor games for parents and children.

Cianna was assigned to the Pink Panthers team so she came to the school wearing a Pink shirt and White shorts. To avoid any jealousy on her little sister's part, Mommy and I decided to make Zoe wear the same colors too. And she really made herself involved with the her sister's team, as she sat and mingle with them all the time.

Cianna's class performed an intermission number but to our surprise and delight, our youngest, Zoe escaped from her Mommy's arms and decided to join her sister. She just ignored Mommy's call for her to come back to her seat as she stubbornly remained on the floor.

Here's the video of their number. Warning: the best part is towards the end...lol!



There she was causing a small distraction by trying to get hold of a girl's hoola-hoop, then making her own cute poses and dancing...completely out-staging and stealing the show from her sister and the whole class!

All in all, it was a fun day..my girls really enjoyed it..And so did I.