2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I woke up this morning to find 48 credit card transaction messages from NBK. It was a bit confusing at first because my iPhone had grouped up all the messages and given me a summary and I thought at first it was one declined transaction. But, I quickly realized it was more than one transaction and that my card had been compromised. The first thing I did was log into my NBK app and block the card until I could wake up and figure out what was going on.

Based on what I could tell, only 1 transaction might have gone through and it was for a small amount of $4.99, but then it was later credited back to my account. Everything else seems to have gotten declined.

I called NBK up to report my card as being compromised and to issue a new one. The employee checked and turns out NBK had already blocked my card before I did because of suspected fraudulent transaction which is why all the transactions had gotten declined. They’re now going to issue you me a new card which I should get before I travel next week. He mentioned it takes 3-4 working days so I should be fine.

Last year my brand new debit card was compromised and two transactions had gone through which were returned back to me a week later. I barely use this credit card that got compromised since I have another prepaid one I use for most of my transactions since that one gets me miles. So I was pretty lucky that NBK blocked my card as soon as they detected anything weird or else I might have been out of a good chunk of money just before my trip.

Go Greek Yogurt, the popular LA-based brand known for its authentic Greek yogurt, opened in Kuwait earlier this year. They’re a favorite among celebrities in LA, and you’ve probably seen paparazzi shots of your favorite stars holding a cup of Go Greek Yogurt.

They recently launched a new product called the Greek Essentials Box. It’s basically a gathering box that includes nine frozen yogurt cups with eighteen toppings on the side.

Because of the richness of Greek yogurt, they can’t use dry ice to keep everything cold since it ruins the taste and texture. So they had to find a better way to insulate the yogurt while keeping things also eco-friendly (so no styrofoam either). Eventually, they came up with an insulated cardboard box that uses bags of ice to keep the yogurt frozen and fresh during delivery. The inside of the box is lined with a reflective material that helps slow how quickly the ice and yogurt melts by reflecting heat away and keeping the temperature inside stable.

Go Greek Yogurt has a physical location on the ground floor of Arraya Complex, but if you want to order delivery, head to gogreekyogurtkw.com or check out their instagram @gogreekyogurt.kw

Two people contacted me asking me if it’s true the Cake Picnic Tour is coming to Kuwait. There is a website and account promoting the event for November but it seems to be based off Dubai Cake Picnic, which is different from the official Cake Picnic Tour (@cakepicnictour).

According to the official Cake Picnic Tour website, Dubai is a potential future stop, but there are zero details at the moment, no dates, times or locations. Kuwait isn’t even listed as a potential future stop.

If you want to stay updated on Cake Picnic Tour’s future stops, here is the link to their website. cakepicnictour.com

The Kuwait Motor Town racetrack is now open again to cyclists every Monday and Tuesday starting tomorrow, and it’s free.

The track is 5.6KM long but has three different configurations, each with a different length, so you can pick and choose which section you want to ride on. The track isn’t flat either with a lot of elevations which makes it more fun and dynamic.

Cycling on the racetrack is a really relaxed experience because it’s empty and quiet. There usually aren’t many riders, and even when there are, there’s plenty of space for everyone since the track is huge. Unlike riding on the Gulf Road cycling path, you don’t have to worry about running over cats or crashing into kids.

The track is beautiful at sunset, and even after the sun goes down, you can keep riding under the bright track lights.

If you want to go cycling at the track, it’s open to the public from 4PM to 8PM on Mondays and Tuesdays. It’s free and doesn’t require registration. Just park your car and ride into the racetrack. There’s a security guard with a sign-in sheet just write your name and number and continue onto the track. The only requirement is a helmet.

Rollerblades, scooters, and skateboards aren’t allowed, but you can walk, jog, or run. They also don’t rent bikes, so it’s BYOB.

To stay updated on other KMT activities and events, head over to their Instagram account @kmtkw

I just ran into the weirdest internet issue. I have the 5G unlimited internet package from Redbull Mobile. A few days ago I got a message telling me I’ve used up 90% of my bandwidth and today it stopped working. So I got in touch with RedBull Mobile to find out what was up.

Firstly for anyone considering Redbull Mobile you need to be aware they don’t have a call center. Your only option for support is chatting with someone. I tried to do that from within the App, but the person the live chat kept connecting me to wouldn’t respond. Like in 10 minutes he said 1 thing which was unrelated to what I was asking and then stopped replying. I tried closing chat and reopening and got the same person and no response. I usually hate talking to bots but this was actually one time I wished I was chatting to a bot instead of a person. At least bots respond. Eventually I tried live chat from the website and got someone.

Turns out unlimited really means only 3TB which I don’t know why they’re calling it unlimited then. Unlimited means no limited but whatever because looking back at my history the max I’ve ever hit is like 2.2TB a month. But for some reason this month I consumed 3TB already and I still have 10 days to go. I don’t know how, I need to check my Xbox and see if it downloaded anything without me realizing. I got a new phone so maybe downloading everything back to my phone consumed bandwidth but that would be like max 300GB. But all of this isn’t even the issue I have right now.

The problem is I don’t have a choice to add more bandwidth. Technically I do but it just doesn’t make sense. I asked support if I could recharge my internet by adding an additional 500GB or 1TB and turns out the only option I have is to add 50GB at a time and it costs 5KD for every 50GB. That is crazy expensive when I’m paying 10KD for 3TB a month. I can get a new pre-paid line with 500GB internet for 8KD which is actually what I’m going to do now. Going to use that line temporarily fro the next 10 days.

So weird, now I need to go and figure out what consumed so much bandwidth this month.

There are some interesting activities this weekend from book launches to stargazing trips. Check out all the events I could find taking place this weekend below:

Thursday, October 16
An Archive of Love Volume II

Friday, October 17
Cars & Coffee
Emperor of the Mats
Perform Series Showdown
Beach Sunrise Yoga & Sound Healing
Stargazing Trip
Morning Milers Pink Campaign Run

Saturday, October 18
Emperor of the Mats
Perform Series Showdown
Da Gusto x HYbrid
Morning Walk with the 5AM Club
studio in-between pop-up cafe
Blueprints of Memories
Visual Journaling & Coffee Painting
Turn Your Story into a Book
Nomads Discussion Night
Story Time: A Squash and a Squeeze
Soof Wool Mill Tours
Paws in the City Collage Workshop

With winter approaching, it’s finally cool enough to take your pets outdoors without worrying about the heat. That’s why I put together a guide of pet-friendly spots, from coffee shops to parks, with the help of @mocha.i.am, who inspired me to make this post. If you know of more pet-friendly spots, mention them in the comments.

Cafes & Restaurants – Indoors
Masaha 13
Sluggish

Cafess & Restaurants – Outdoors
Back Burner – SVN
Baked
Barasti
BBT – The Hilltop and Shamiya Park
Brick Pizza
Broskis
Da Gusto
Earth Roastery – Bida’a
Edo
Gia – Salmiya (Temporarily Closed)
Joe & the Juice – Salmiya
Masaha 13
Okan Coffee House
Seoulian
Speak Coffee Roaster
The Sandwich Shop

Parks
Shuwaikh Park – Popular on Friday & Saturday Mornings

Hotels
Four Seasons Hotel (under 11.5KG)
Grand Hyatt Residences (2 pets max)
The K Hotel

Finally, I’ve been waiting for this to happen since Aramex acquired MyUS. One of the benefits to using MyUS over Shop&Ship was that they were based in Florida which meant we didn’t have to pay a sales tax. Awhile ago I got an email from Shop&Ship letting me know they’ve now changed their US mailbox address from being based in New York to now being based in Florida. This means any shipments sent to your Shop&Ship US address will no longer be taxed.

I wonder if Amazon offering free shipping to Kuwait was the reason they decided to finally shift from NY to Florida.

The new address is now:

Name: Firstname Lastname
Address Line 1: 4297 Express Lane, Sarasota
Address Line 2: Your S&S Mailbox Number
City: Sarasota
State: Florida
Country: United States
Zip Code: 34249-2602
Phone: 9413262501

You should update your address immediately.

A couple of days ago, Boulevard World in Riyadh opened to the public as part of Riyadh Season. Boulevard World (or BLVD World) is located right next to BLVD City, another large entertainment zone. The venue features replicas of iconic landmarks from several countries, and this year they’ve added three new zones: Indonesia, Korea, and Kuwait.

The Kuwait zone features replicas of the Kuwait Towers, Seef Palace with its clock tower, and a large dhow. It also includes restaurants serving authentic Kuwaiti food, along with traditional arts and live performances.

If you’ve never been to BLVD World or City, you really should. I’ve been three times, and each time it was bigger than the year before. It’s a gigantic world that feels a bit like Universal Studios or Disneyland. Riyadh is also always a fun road trip if you want to drive down.

From Kuwait to Riyadh 🇰🇼❤️
Authentic Kuwaiti food, traditional arts,
and live performances are waiting for you at the Kuwait Zone inside Blvd World 🌏

Book your tickets nowhttps://t.co/zvz6LyRkSL#BigTime#RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/kMANvQx4vy

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) October 11, 2025

Photos are from @addadruh.

Barari is a local landscaping company I’ve been following for a couple of years. I’m a fan of their work, and they’ve done some really interesting projects. One that stood out to me is called Tree Den.

For the Tree Den project, they took a tiled-up garden with artificial turf and turned it into a vibrant desert sanctuary. Looking at the before and after photos, it’s hard to believe they’re of the same place.

Instead of covering the ground with artificial or real grass, they decided to embrace the sand as a natural, breathable surface. According to Barari, they wanted to celebrate the desert rather than fight it. They planted dense greenery along with mature trees to create a cozy and immersive space. Even the kids play area encourages hands-on exploration and digging. It’s a simple idea that I think is executed beautifully, and they managed to convince me that sand doesn’t need to be covered but can actually be a beautiful part of the landscape.

If you want to check out all the before and after photos of the transformation, head over to their website here.

I don’t have a dirt bike but I found out about this place in Kuwait that does decals and sells plastic body panels for dirt bikes. It’s very niche which is why I figured I’d post about it in case someone ever tries using google to find a place that does this.

The place is called MOTORRAD and their instagram account is @motorradkw

UFC Bantamweight Champion, Merab Dvalishvili was in Kuwait this weekend. I found out when I was at the gym and when I checked Merab’s instagram story he had posted a video of Al Shaheed Park taken from inside the Four Seasons, my guess is where he was staying. Supposedly he was in Kuwait to visit some friends. Pretty wild considering I just watched him fight on TV last week!

Qudra is a Kuwait-based freelance marketplace that connects freelancers with clients. I posted about them when they first launched last year, and now, a year later, they’ve expanded beyond Kuwait with a launch in Dubai to serve the wider MENA region.

Their platform connects talent in Kuwait and the MENA region with clients seeking services like graphic design, digital marketing, and interior design. The app offers secure payments, direct chat, and detailed freelancer profiles to help clients find the right match.

Since I last posted about them, Qudra has rolled out new features including Qudra Pro, a way for freelancers to verify their profiles, gain more visibility, and access exclusive opportunities. They’ve also improved payments, added better project management tools, and enhanced communication features based on user feedback.

If you’re a freelancer
Qudra lets you showcase your skills and get discovered by clients. Payments are secured before you start a project, and once it’s completed, the funds are released to you.

If you’re a business
Qudra simplifies the hiring process by providing access to a diverse pool of talent with a wide range of skills. You can also post a job listing with a specific budget and have freelancers reach out to you.

Qudra makes freelancing safe, efficient, and rewarding for both sides. Try them out joinqudra.com

Back in August, I posted about using AliExpress for the first time to purchase a couple of items, and I was really impressed with the experience. They’re now always top of mind when I think about getting something online, which is why I ordered from them again 10 days ago.

I wanted to buy a wireless CarPlay adapter for my Hilux (this was before I decided to sell it). From the factory, CarPlay only works with a USB cable, but I found out about a tiny USB adapter called the CarlinKit Mini Ultra. You just plug it into the USB port, and your phone connects to CarPlay wirelessly. The price on the CarlinKit website was around KD 18 at the time with free shipping (it’s now discounted to about KD 15). Just before checking out, I decided to see if it was available on AliExpress since it’s a Chinese company and it was.

There were plenty of options, and I found one selling it for KD 4.3 with 600 fils shipping. I ended up paying just KD 4.9 for the item, shipped from China straight to my door! I honestly don’t understand how that’s possible. It costs me more than 600 fils to get a burger delivered from Five Guys down the street.

So I guess this is another post recommending AliExpress, also the adapter. Been using it for the past few days and it’s pretty great. There is a slight lag between an input and something happening, like you click forward for a song and it takes maybe a second or less for the track to move forward. It’s not a deal breaker and something that you’d get used to. I have the same issue with the aftermarket CarPlay unit I installed in my e46 BMW.

Here are my favorite events taking place this weekend.

Thursday, October 9
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live
Ixir Wellbeing Expo
Interstellar IMAX Screening
Astronomers Diwaniya

Friday, October 10
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live
Ixir Wellbeing Expo
A Tribute to Whitney Houston
Interstellar IMAX Screening
BAKED Turns 4 Brunch

Saturday, October 11
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live
Ixir Wellbeing Expo
Resistance For Hope Exhibit
Pigment to Paint
Art & Frequency Gathering
in-between pop-up open cafe
Interstellar IMAX Screening
Conversations with Strangers 7.0
Mandala Flow Workshop
Korean Movie Night: Forbidden Dream
BAKED Turns 4 Brunch
KSP’s Fight Night 4