"Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May" is a poem by Robert Herrick. This poem portrays our existence on earth, and that people age as life goes on, and everything becomes boundless. Herrick here urges people to take advantage of youth and energy while they may! The poem is in the genre of carpe diem, to seize the day.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Outdoor Harrods café and downtown Kuwait

All I gotta say... "THIS IS LANDAN!!! Not jeleeb shyookh!" :-P




As received by email
Thanks Dan-Dana


***********************


Harrods café? Not in our back yard, say wealthy neighbours

Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter
13.08.08

Millionaire residents of Knightsbridge are threatening legal action against Harrods, claiming its new outdoor café has made their neighbourhood resemble 'downtown Kuwait'.

Protesters including bankers, aristocrats and international businessmen gathered outside the department store to demonstrate their anger over the opening of Ladurée cafe at its rear three weeks ago.
They claim it has led to traffic gridlock and noise as well as helping to attract prostitutes, drug dealers and beggars to the area.
The pavement outside the café has been widened by several feet to accommodate customers paying £15 for a club sandwich - but in the process it has narrowed the road, causing mayhem, say the objectors.
Farih Tabbah, a Jordanian businessmen who is orchestrating the protest, said he would meet lawyers this week in a bid to overturn planning permission for the café, which was granted by Kensington and Chelsea council. He plans to seek a judicial review in the hope of having Ladurée shut down.
Mr Tabbah, 56, who lives in a £5 million house in Walton Place, opposite the café, said: 'It's worse than Piccadilly Circus - it's more like downtown Kuwait. They have taken away part of the road and all they have done is increase the traffic. The result is the biggest gridlock in central London. The traffic is at a standstill from 5pm. I cannot even sit in my own garden because of the noise.'
In two hours outside the café the Evening Standard witnessed near-permanent gridlock, with cars parked illegally on street corners, and a constant queue for tables at Ladurée. Many of the high-performance cars going past had numberplates from Kuwait, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
Faisal Naif, 23, from Qatar, a passenger in a Lamborghini which went by at least four times, said: 'What can I say? I cannot make the engine quieter.'
Martin Diggle, 46, a fund manager who lives opposite Mr Tabbah, said: 'It is blighting the area. My children get woken up at night by the noise. I have even seen fistfights caused by road rage. It is an absolute farce.'
Actress Helen Forbes-Watt, 52, whose husband was a chief economist at the UN, said: 'The noise is driving us mad. It's like living in the middle of Brands Hatch. It starts at 5pm and goes on until 11pm. I rang Harrods and they told me they have 28 restaurants inside the building.'
A petition circulated by Mr Tabbah claims the cafés in the area are attracting 'street buskers... beggars and drunkards... prostitutes and drug dealers' and even 'salesmen selling pornographic materials and other illegal merchandise'.
The café, at the corner of Hans Road and Basil Street, was given permission to run for five years to have 25 tables and 100 chairs, and to have the pavement widened. It is a branch of a famous Paris chain. The manager, who refused to give his name, said: 'You should talk to Harrods. We are just operating the concession for them. But we are really sorry for the noise it is causing in the neighbourhood.'
Harrods' owner Mohamed Fayed spoke with Mr Tabbah yesterday to say the store was doing all it could to minimise noise and other disruption. A Harrods spokeswoman said: 'Mr Fayed always likes to reassure residents personally where appropriate and will contact them personally. Our managing director has also spoken to Mr Tabbah and sought to reassure him we take his concerns seriously. Obviously this is a new venture and we are always open to discussion about how to manage it effectively. But we have planning permission to extend the pavement and this is a very busy time for Harrods. Many of our Middle Eastern customers choose to come at this time of year.'

She denied the café had encouraged prostitution or drug dealing.


UPDATE
Original Article

24 comments:

Big Pearls said...

downtown Kuwait?!

Purgatory said...

Q8chillgirl posted this last week.

Ansam said...

Big Pearls-
Yeah I dont get it!

Purgatory-
I had no idea :-) I received it by email... I dont know Q8chillgirl.

Anonymous said...

If the jordanian so called businessman doesn't like it then he can always go back to Amman , backstabber .Gulf Arabs give London a lot of color and flair not to mention a nice infusion of cash .

Anonymous said...

I think that is sooooooooooo funny! lol. Salmiya in London hahahahahaahaha.

Zeecu said...

I don't get the kuwait reference either.

Anonymous said...

downtown Kuwait? hehehe...

Purgatory said...

Shame on you, you do not know one of the original bloggers, and you do not know Kuwaiti Blogger History.

What would Jesus do!

Ansam said...

daggero-
The downtown Kuwait did not make ANY sense to me! I dont know how he related both!

Teach-
LOL... although I dont see it

Zeecu-
Its stupid!

likeairillrise-
I KNOW!

Grey said...

Down town Kuwait ?? You mean Sharq?

Ruby Woo said...

Ifashloon!!

Every summer, I have this feeling where I'm ashamed to be an arab especially from the gulf region.

The cars just go back and forth with that rumbling engine. It's all about SHOWING OFF! and I can tell how it makes the locals uncomfortable. Heck, I get uncomfortable around them.

London, Geneve, Paris are the most common places for khaleeji people.

Ansam said...

Grey-
I still dont see why he said it!

Ruby Woo-
Yeah but why did he say its like downtown Kuwait?

Anonymous said...

i still can't figure out the Kuwaiti opposition with London, i went there 3 times -had to- and felt like i haven't left Kuwait...i even met 2 guys that had left Kuwait years back.

Raciest mother f**** not worth spending a fils there

Ruby Woo said...

it's just a random saying. You know how downtown new york is? It's know for it's rabsha and hectic people ya3ni it's not sophisticated enough.. so he just combined that term with Kuwait as in khaleeji's perhaps?

hence the downtown kuwait.

Anonymous said...

maybe bcoz it's full of khalejies? or this dude doesnt know any other khaligy city he mentioned Q8!!! madry walah ..

i agree with daggero

Anonymous said...

maybe bcoz it's full of khalejies? or this dude doesnt know any other khaligy city he mentioned Q8!!! madry walah ..

i agree with daggero

Anonymous said...

Most probably he meant Khaliji's, but when you know that the one raising the protest is a Jordanian, you don't wonder a lot why he did it !!! and why he so demeaningly called it downtown Kuwait . . . ! I know that some Khaliji's exaggerate when showing off their cars, but the Brits can't deny that tourism from the Gulf is a boost for their economy.

Single & Fabulous said...

I think he meant Khaliji's in general.

Ansam said...

theadrenalinefix.com-
Its not just Kuwaitis you know... and downtown Kuwait is nothing like Knightsbridge!

Ruby Woo-
I know... but have you been to downtown Kuwait? Do you see ANY resemblance?? LOL!

Dreamy-
Maybe you are right!

Anonymous-
I guess! I know its bad and I dont agree with it... I just dont like the labeling here!


Single & Fabulous Emirati-
Maybe... maybe not!

Ms. D said...

sij yded haal mokan?? ya7leelee wana ray7atla marten already! hehehe

bs shd3wa le 11?? ambeh ehwa e9akir o eshel 6awlata at 8.45!!! shisalfa!!!

o b3den bs 3ashan harods lazim edami3 3yonhom?? what about cafe rouge and strada ?? ham hathel mawjoden o ta7t elbyot ba3ad o ehma chena elly ga3dat'hom e6awel akthar!

sij sij hal cafe 3jeeeeeb.. their macaroons ma3rofen enhom shy khayaly.. 7ata their tarts.. too bad i havent tried anything from their savory menue

Ansam said...

Ms. D-
I dont really know... I tend to avoid places where there a lot of tourists hehehehe after all I paid my ticket to travel and change of scenes :-)

randomq80ya said...

now this is truly UNFAIR!!!! i am in London right now and have been to harrods, i personally saw one kuwaiti car and the rest were from the UAE and QATAR ( no disrespect ) my point is the majority is not from q8 so why call it downtown q8 and it is not the khajyeen's fault that harrods has a cafe placed between those houses, it is the summer and london is a city it is defiantly going to be noisy

Ansam said...

randomq80ya-
I know.... he is ignorant cuz it doesnt look like (or sound like) downtown Kuwait!

Anonymous said...

LOL! The original Laduree is a very quiet, elegant inside cafe where you can bet the very best hot chocolate and buttery croissants in Paris. The one on the Champs Elysee is NOT the original.

About Me

My photo
Adventurous, Artist, Analyst, Creative, Independent