House Maids in Kuwait

Is it just me or is this topic becoming more and more annoying? We've gone through four maids in the past 6 months or so. Each one worse than the other. It can't be our bad luck that all four were useless. Even after them taking the mandatory house keeping class before coming, they still don't know how to do the basics!! Come on! That's bullshit. Washing a spoon to make it clean is common sense.

When the agents increased the price to bring a maid.........we didn't say anything.
They increased salaries to a minimum of 90 kd (for a filipino with no experience)..........not a peep from us.
A filipino with experience can reach up to 120 kd per month.
In this case I expect top notch service, I'm talking personal assistant, house management,  appointment making, massage and nutritional advise service. I swear we had one recently who couldn't distinguish the difference between men's and women's clothes.

Despite treating them with the utmost respect, to the extent of pampering sometimes, they still don't want to work (we've been asking all the people we know how they treat their help and in comparison, the ones that work for us are like taking a holiday in Bali). And if you try to be fair and treat them like employer and employee, they cry, get upset and don't want to work. "Take me to office sir!"

I can't go on rambling about this anymore at this time. There is so much to nit pick on this subject.

So far, we're just chinning it and hoping for the best.

Folli Follies the Avenues Mall

Took my watch for a battery change to the Folli Follie shop at the Avenues Mall and expected to bid farewell to it for at least after eid. To my surprise, two minutes later, my watch was reanimated with life and cleaned......All for 2 kd.

Thanks for the quick service, which makes a world of a difference when it comes to a simple job. The majority of other watch/jewellery shops give you the usual 2-3 days, checking with the workshop crap. Not this time!

The Peacock Restaurant experience

I heard so much hype about the re-opening of the Peacock Restaurant in Radisson blu Hotel that I had to try it myself. Reservations were crazy! They're booked well over a month in advance.

In the hotel lobby were generous groups of people anxiously waiting for the restaurant to open for dinner at 1930. As I waited, I struggled with my phone, begging for a signal as I saw the data connection flicker between  H+ and E. I was in a mobil phone signal vacuum! I don't think the hotel calculated the signal availability properly. It was even worse inside the restaurant. So call your loved ones just after you park to say your short good byes. Any chance of connection is lost as you  walk inside.

The food wasn't anything special, I know the menu remained the same but so what? The dinner went pretty much hiccup free other than a waiter accidently clearing one of the dishes before we were finished,  but they quickly compensated by bringing another of the same dish....
The food portions are generous and prices are very reasonable.

A couple of things did manage to get under my skin. The waiter took ages to bring the cheque and then took even longer to acknowledge that I wanted to pay by card. It felt like a millenia by the time that whole transaction was over, all the time while I was slowly being tortured by the food I ate (the spices really did a number on me!).

The other thing that annoyed me was the waiters inability to follow through. He had asked me earlier if I wanted any dish as take away, and I happly pointed out the chicken,  then he totally blew me off, even after he had prepared it !! I could see he was tending to an englishmen who had just walked in, eager to impress the foreigner,  that bastard!! I could see three waiters swarming at his table while I was counting the seconds to leave. I was so annoyed that I myself forgot my take away request.

By the way, only half the tables were taken at any one time. Either people are reserving and not coming or the management is pretending they are very busy. They called us 10 mins before our reservation to confirm.

Value for money = good
Food = nothing special
Would I return = maybe after another renovation

P.S.  I was with a veteran Peacocker who also agreed that the food was.......ok.