I got in a few days ago for family and work, since then I haven’t had a moment to breath. Its been a bit hectic, I haven’t even had a chance to un-box a few items I bought while I was traveling. In Kuwait you get caught up with work and family that you really don’t have a moment to scratch your head, and even when I did have some time I called up one of the guys to play Halo ODST.

British Airways seemed to have upgrade their planes again, and I have to say that the beds are much flatter and more comfortable then before. The plane before that when coming to Kuwait was two generations old, I was upgraded to first from business on my trip before this one on the return trip to Kuwait and even my iPod touch had a bigger screen then the monitor in first, I just passed out. But this new place is pretty nice, but I still slept on this one and still had to sleep early when I got in on Sunday. Terminal 5 is a very nice terminal and also very big, if its between Terminal 3 of Emirates and Terminal 5 of British I would prefer Terminal 5 but Emirates seems to have a more comfortable planes and a better entertainment system, and cheaper prices.

Now this was an interesting day, I was walking down Totenham Cour Road looking for a camera tripod and access point. That road is filled with electronic and computer stores selling most of everything you would look for in London. As I walked out of the last Nikon/Canon store admiring some expensive lens, I walk out to see the Dianetics and Scientology center right next door. I instinctively took a picture of the sign and stand out front, then just looked through my lens to see somebody looking directly at me, but I snapped any way. She walked up to me and asked me if I’m interested in Dianectics, walking me inside to a wall filled with L Ron Hubbard books and DVDs. She asked where I was from, told her from Kuwait, she grabbed a book in Arabic and gave it to me as well as DVD, assuming I would be willing to pay for it. I told her I read a little bit about it a while ago but didn’t really read up, she was being very forceful to take the book or at least the DVD.

She asked where I was from, I told from Kuwait and she said then I must be Muslim, I told her that is the case. She asked if I had 30 minutes to spare, I said I’m a bit tight on time, she wanted me to watch to 5 minute videos and do some testing, I opted out of the videos but was curious about the testing. She took me to the lower floors to sit in an area where they do some testing, I was ask a lot of questions about what I do, and what I do on a daily basis, how I feel and some many things. Then the infamous E-Meter was brought out, it looks like some contraption out of the 1950s, radiation testing of some sorts. Then that machine was going off for a bit, then after all that the testing was done. The results is that I have a lot of pent up negative energy and I need it solved and that requires further treatment. I thanked them and walked out, it took all the will power I had not to laugh at certain points in the testing, I can understand how they can turn a few people into Scientologists,and some of these people are extremely strong willed with an answer for every statement, the cult feeling of it is there but they are much better organized. That was an interesting experience but I continued looking for my access point in the shops down the road.

I was in London for about a week visiting family and getting a few things done. The weather was fantastic between 12C and 18C, sunny most of the days and no rain. I enjoyed walking around outside, and I would have Chinese food at the Phoenix Palace when ever I have a chance after a good walk. I would take my backpack, play my iPod and walk around with my camera snapping pictures and just walking in any direction.

I usually have a pattern when I go to London, a few places I visit and a few places I eat. For movies its usually in the Piccadilly Circus area with Odeon, Vue, Empire and Apollo Cinemas all within walking distance and lots of movies to choose from. I watched a lot of movies this time around, even though I wanted to watch some more I had to do a few other things. One of the places that I visited for the first time was Forbidden Planet which was a really interesting store, selling all types of models from movies, comics, and tv shows as well as an interesting library in the basement, it is a movie/tv/comic fan’s dream shop with so much to see and buy. I didn’t buy anything but I did enjoy walking around and looking at all the different models they have, and they have an online store which has a lot of items as well. I had to visit Waterstones book store to check out a few books and I did pick up a few, I think I have too many books piling up, I have a few laying on the ground and I can’t seem to find the right place to put them. I do enjoy going around London in those Black Cabs, I take them when ever I can, they usually have very interesting stories. New cabs seemed to have been introduced to London, they are now using Mercedes Vitto which is very nice van and it can seat 6 people and turn the required 25 feet turning radius as the current cabs by enabling steering in both the front and rear for a better turning radius, this is an addition to the normal cabs but I didn’t have a chance to snap a picture of one.

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The Matrix is one of those movies that change the way movies were made but this isn’t a post about Keanu Reeves, even though that movie is one of my all time top 10. I abruptly remembered it thanks to being up around my old text books and DVD collection a few days ago and realizing that its fall semester and only started a little while ago. I haven’t been out of school that long, but it’s amazing how quickly you forget the hell rush of class registration, book buying, and trying to decide which of your professors will be more flexible or easier. My backpack was twice my size because I was so dedicated, I never missed a class, I spent my evenings trying to figure out how to get better at Halo 1 Rockets, and I’m pretty sure I once fell down some stairs because I was reading something while going to physics lab. I even remembering buying my first Toshiba Satellite laptop before heading to university and using it for a while before getting my first Alienware desktop which was amazing at the time (I still have the case). But all that hard work put me right here has turned me into king of Halo 3. (Thats an a ridiculous overstatement, now with the online teams, I get annihilated before even respawning)

Every once in a while I get one of these very hateful people who just want to insult or directly harm you with their words. I really don’t understand why they are like that when there is no reason to be all worked up. The funny part it isn’t a contreversial issue, this person just tried to directly insult me and say something mean. The funny part is over the years I have turned to dealing with them into an art form, just ignore them, its as simple as that. They aren’t stating a different opinion, they are just leaving insults so they are easy to ignore, and the funny part is that they think they can’t be traced because they left a fake email. In this person’s case he was mistaken since all I had to do was an IP Look up, turns up the comment came from Jahra, and through Zaijil networks so I know where to go if I really want to find out. Technology entertainingly works both ways, it even gave me the longitude and latitude so I’m assuming its really close to it. (Click the top image for a bigger picture)

I don’t know how to describe this country, I love everything about it, the cities, the streets, the men, the woman, the children, the art, architecture, food, attitudes, machines, cars, motorcycles and especially the language. I have been wanting to come to Italy for the past few years and it hasn’t worked out for me and suddenly something came up that I had to go, and for the time that I have been here I love very part of it. Italians are so passionate and amazingly friendly, even when they are angry they sound fantastic, and their language just roles off so smoothly and easily. Sometimes when someone speaks Italian to me I want to reply in Italian and then I realize that I don’t know any Italian and I stay silent with my mouth open for second waiting for the words to form up and exit.

The weather is amazing and luckily it only rained when we went to another city, I have to say that I enjoyed the streets of Rome. There is so much to see, so much art, so much architecture. At night it feels like the city is alive and the whole city is lit up, they have designed it amazingly, you pass so many Pallazos (Palaces), Vatican City, Castel Sant Angelo, Pallaza Navano, the Collossium, and so many other places. Its amazing how Italy is, even during the week the restaurants don’t get filled up until its 10:30 pm or 11:00 pm unlike many other cities which are quite by 9:00pm, if you go to any restaurant at 9:00pm it would be empty and won’t start filling up until 9:30 pm. This city is amazing and I loved every moment of it, I just felt like a kid in candy store. Then there are so many motorcycles and scooters, I saw so many Ducati Street Fighters on the street and a lot of BMWs to my surprise, and so many other machines in abundance. The motorcycle culture is part of their genes, there is a form of organized chaos in this city that can’t be described it can only be understood when you are in it, for how aggressive people drive in Italy they are extremely considerate of motorcycle and scooter riders flying all over the place.

Landing in Heathrow early in the afternoon for a nice cool breeze and a Sunday is a nice start to London. I walked over to the Taxi Cab line and as usual there were a lot of cabs, but to my surprise there are new black cabs look like those Volkswagen and Mercedes Vans. they are more spacious and the interior of the cab is design in the same idea with five people in mind with two people facing the three but to me its just not the same as London’s Black Cab. I am one person who enjoys riding in a black cab because it spacious and its fun, also the cab drivers do have a story to tell.

I just took a black cab to the same location that I always do, and prices have really changed. Black cab prices have hiked up, there is a bit of inflation to it but still its one big jump.

• In 99 – (45 – 52 GBP)
• In 05 – (60 GBP)
• In 09 – (78 GBP)

I have had my SE T700 for about a year and a half now, I update the firmware but the phone has pretty much gone into crashing spiral. If I call a number that isn’t stored it rings but the screen hangs, and if I go into sms it takes a minute or two to load up, it has its moods when it wants to work. I have to admit though that it has survived some pretty damaging falls and lasted a while but I need a replacement.

I was thinking for a while not to take a chance get a completely different phone but I’m a bit put off:

Garmin G60 – Linux based Garmin phone with simple functionality and Garmin map functions.

I’m not getting it because of the horrible reviews that it has gotten as it seems to have issues.

HTC Hero – I have always wanted to try an Android phone and the HTC UI is appealing but I’m very hesitant.

I’m avoiding all Windows phones at all costs, I took that road a long while back and I refuse to do that because of the hell that I went through with their crappy products and even their new Windows Mobile OS is crap. So after all that I’m left to go back to Sony Ericsson phones even though I think they are great phones and do the job as phones.

(iPhone is not an option, I would break it in one day)

For the past few weeks I have been on the move with family and a little bit of work, majority of it is a break from work but I had to have some meetings while I was out abroad. Towards the end of this trip I have been on a plane every day and a half which has gotten exhausting, there is a lot I want to post about but not enough time. Off the bat, Italy was amazing, I’m annoyed that I haven’t gone there earlier, but there is a lot to post about, then off to London and I really missed London. I almost haven’t been to London for almost two years at this point, I didn’t realize how busy I got until recently, but it was so nice to be back in my room and smelling the fresh air next to the park, and now I’m in Hungary for a few days before heading back to London then back to the Kuwait the next night after a meeting in the morning. I have a lot of fasting to make up for when I get back to home, fasting abroad or while traveling is very difficult so I opted to fast at a later point, and I walked a lot in all the places, its just so easy to walk with this cool and nice weather. When I’m out walking I can feel the difference, the oxygen level in these countries are better then Kuwait, it just feels refreshing to walk outside and breath. Still a lot more to do and only a few days left until I go home, I wish all a happy eid.

Usually when I’m traveling I try to get a car service done or anything that would take some time to get done. I had this arranged with Toyota to get my 10K service and a little paint job done for the Landcruiser. It took a total of two and a half days to get it all done, when my friend went to pick it up the Body Shop Manager told him that the iPod from my car was missing and they can’t find it, it was listed in the original paper when the car was submitted and they can’t find it. Now my friend went a little ballistic on them before I even knew, but they offered right away to purchase a new one for me. So he called up Alghanim Electronics and they are sold out and waiting for the new iPod Classics which were announced. The body shop work cost 95 KD and the 10 KD service was 25 KD, and the cost of the iPod Classic 120 GB was 85 KD. But it wasn’t available so I ordered it from Amazon and emailed my friend the emailed invoice, he sent it to them and they were reluctant to pay since it was an emailed invoice but after my friend spoke to the Body Shop Manager again, they paid the 80 KD, but that doesn’t include Aramex shipping but I didn’t mind. I usually take out all the items from my car but I wasn’t there this time around, but I have to say I was surprised this happened at Toyota, at BMW I would expect it in Kuwait but not Toyota. They were gracious enough to offer to pay right away, even if it took a little arguing.