Author: Mark

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Meander (5.8)
Reminiscence (7.4)
Respect (7.0)
The Green Knight (7.4)

Other Movies Showing Now:
A Quiet Place Part II (7.3)
Anything for Jackson (6.3)
Black Widow (6.8)
Cruella (7.4)
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (6.1)
F9: The Fast Saga (5.2)
Free Guy (7.7)
Hard Kill (3.3)
Rogue Hostage (3.1)
Space Jam: A New Legacy (4.4)
Snake Eyes (5.7)
The Suicide Squad (7.5)

Classic Movie Showing Now:
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (8.8)

The films below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

IMAX Movies Showing Now:
Antartica (N/A)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (7.7)
Turtle Odyssey (7.2)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

I noticed recently on Twitter a lot of people complaining about Aramex. I thought I was the only one having problems with them recently but it looks like it’s everyone. Yes, I’m aware a lot of you don’t like them and prefer using other services, but from my experience, they offer the best bang for the buck. You also get what you pay for, so very affordable shipping but also fairly slow shipping which is why I don’t have an issue with their speed.

Recently things have been a disaster though. Not sure if it’s because of lack of staff or what exactly but not only are packages being delivered much slower than usual which I’m fine with, the mistakes they’re making is what I have an issue with. For example, I had one package go out for delivery only for the driver to say I rejected the package which I didn’t. It then took 2 weeks, 6 to 7 phone calls, 3 complaint tickets, and contacting their social media team twice just to get the package redelivered again.

This brings me to my post. Which company has the worst or best customer service in Kuwait? Everyone makes mistakes, that’s fine but good or bad service for me is based on how you go about trying to solve the mistake.

Worst: Aramex (Shop&Ship)
Like I said, it isn’t because they’re slow, it’s because they’re just terrible at solving problems when they do happen.

Best: Babel
This was difficult to choose because of the lack of options, but in the end I decided to pick Babel. I order delivery from them and their customer service is great. They always call to make sure the food arrived or call the next day to make sure if everything was ok. But really the reason I chose them is because of the one time I had an issue with my order, they went beyond what was required to make me happy even though I wasn’t even upset. They forgot to put the tabbouleh dressing with my order so I called them to let them know just as an FYI. They were very apologetic and insisted on resending the whole order again and even included dessert to make up for it even though I tried to tell them not to. Been a big fan ever since.

I’m curious to know what everyone’s Worst and Best is. Based on social media I’d assume it’s going to be either Aramex, Xcite or one of the telecoms.

Update: I was right! Looks like the majority of readers rank Aramex Shop & Ship, Xcite and Ooredoo as the worst followed closely by Talabat. When it comes to best customer service it looks to be Deliveroo which I also agree with.

China Great Wall is my go-to hole in the wall for hot pot. Hot pot if you don’t know is a way of cooking at your table using a boiling pot of soup stock that you throw your raw ingredients into. You can order the pot in different flavors like spicy or none spicy or order a two-way pot which is a pot split in half and containing two different flavors of stock. You then have two pages worth of items you can order to cook ranging from different proteins like beef or lamb, to veggies like mushrooms and greens. It’s a lot of fun and the hot pot at China Great Wall is pretty good.

The price is also great costing just 2.5KD for a single flavored pot or 3.5KD if you want a two-way. In addition to the pot you then pay per ingredient, so a dish of raw beef for example is 2.250KD, pakchoi is 1KD, morning glory 750fils etc.. The place is fairly small with just 5 tables so it tends to get busy really quickly.

If you’re interested in trying China Great Wall, their instagram is @chinagreatwallrestaurant and here is their location on Google Maps.

The popular Australian skincare brand Aesop is now available in Kuwait at Bloomingdales. For some reason, up until now the only way to get Aesop products was to order it from the UK or US even though Bloomingdales in Dubai carried the brand.

The only downside is the products aren’t available at the Bloomingdale location in 360 Mall yet, only on their local website. But the items are in Kuwait I believe since they offer same-day delivery on them and delivery is for free. The prices of the products all seem to be standard Aesop retail pricing as well. To see all the available Aesop products available to order in Kuwait, click here.

I’ve been collecting old video game ads from the 80s and uploading them to my Flickr account. I’ve got over 20 ads so far in the album including ads for the Intellivision, Coleco, Amiga, and Atari consoles. I also found some newspaper clippings of old video game tournaments which I thought was cool.

The big players in the video game business back then based on the ads were Alamiah, Alghanim (Xcite), and surprisingly, Marafie. Check out all the ads I’ve found so far here.

Cool footage of Salhiya and the surrounding area from back in 1984, but sadly, I didn’t spot Alamiah in the video nor the Korean restaurant on M2 in the video. YouTube

Thanks @forzaq8

Over the weekend I tried out the cotton candy experience at Spunsprinkles and it was wayyyy more fun than I thought it would be. I had pre-booked the experience for me and a couple of friends a week earlier since the few available slots they have get booked quickly. The space is pretty small but super cute and we had stools set up for us in front of the cotton candy spinner.

The first thing they made us do was pick the flavor of the cotton candy we wanted from 16 different ones available (not including their secret menu). After picking our favorite we got to choose all the various sprinkles and glitter we wanted with our cotton candy including edible stickers. Once we all chose how we wanted our cotton candy to look, we started building it. Although the experience is mostly catered towards children, it was honestly a lot of fun as adults which is why they get people of different ages booking the experience.

In the end, we all left with huge smiles on our faces and our tubs of customized cotton candy (my watermelon flavored cotton candy was delicious). The experience costs KD1 per person not including the cost of the cotton candy which varies from 1.5KD to 2.5KD depending on what you’re building.

Being stuck in Kuwait for the past 18 months has resulted in most of us looking for anything new and fun to try while here. This is something you definitely should add to your list to try with friends (or your kids). Their experience slots for the week fill up quickly but new slots open every Sunday at 4PM. Check them out on Instagram @spunsprinkles and if you want to book an experience yourself, here is the link.

It started off in 2008 as a group of domestic workers who got together to spend leisure time, cooking, and playing games. Then as the group got more popular, other domestic workers were coming to them for help, so they decided to do something about it.

“Before, nobody talked about domestic workers. They were there, but nobody could see them. But over the past 13 years, there have been a lot of changes.” – Ann Abunda

In 2010, they founded Sandigan Kuwait, a more serious group that advocates for the protection and welfare of domestic workers. They now assist and assess workers’ cases from different nationalities, and from different work sectors. They have a repatriation programme, offer legal aid, and provide psychosocial activities. In addition, every Friday they have a livelihood program for domestic workers.

It’s an inspiring story and you can read more about it on the International Labour Organization website ilo.org

via @AlHashemShaikha

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

A Quiet Place Part II (7.3)
Annette (7.0)
Anything for Jackson (6.3)
Black Widow (6.8)
Blackpink: The Movie (7.5)
Cruella (7.4)
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (6.1)
F9: The Fast Saga (5.2)
Free Guy (7.7)
Hard Kill (3.3)
Rogue Hostage (3.1)
Seobok (6.1)
Space Jam: A New Legacy (4.4)
Snake Eyes (5.7)
Lupin III: The First (6.9)
The Suicide Squad (7.5)

The classic movie below is now showing at the 1954 theater:
Rain Man (8.0)

The films below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:
Antartica (N/A)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (7.7)
Turtle Odyssey (7.2)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

If you’re bored and looking for a new skill to learn then you might be interested in welding. There is a place in Kuwait called Safety Group that offers welding workshops for both men and women.

The course is for beginners and will give you a background on welding, welding safety, the different kinds of welding techniques, and of course, you get to weld.

It’s a 4-day workshop and costs KD90. It’s in Arabic and if you’re interested check out @q8welder on instagram or get in touch with them on 66644873.

Haraka Center for Movement Arts (HCMA) is a new dance and movement center that just opened up in Shuwaikh. Their classes will focus on ballet, modern, contemporary dance, other dance styles, and movement-based classes.

HCMA is for women of all ages and levels (no classes for men). They started a few days ago and their full upcoming schedule is available on their website harakacenter.com. Drop-in classes are for KD15 while their packages start from KD40. If you’re looking for something to do then check them out, also make sure you follow them on instagram @haraka.center

Buenos Aires and Berlin-based architecture studio Jasper Architects won an international competition to design a hotel located in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert.

The project was inspired by sand dunes and the renderings that have been published look very cool. I’m really curious to where in the desert they’re going to build this since we don’t have sand dunes here, just flat open space.

According to the article, the project is currently in the design phase and is expected to be completed in 2024. For a lot more renderings and details, click here.

Thanks Hind

One of our company employees has been stuck in the US for months due to the restriction on expats coming into Kuwait and while there she got her vaccination. When the airports reopened she uploaded her vaccination paperwork to the MOH website to be validated but it still hasn’t gotten approved even though it’s been nearly a month.

She ended up missing her flight back to Kuwait so instead, she applied for a Saudi visa online since we have an office there, and in contrast, it took just 3 minutes to get her vaccination validated and visa issued!

Based on the responses under my previous post, I know a lot of you are still waiting for your vaccinations to get approved, but for those of you who already got it approved, how long did you have to wait??

If you’ve ever researched stainless steel flasks or mugs then you’ve most likely come across the Zojirushi brand. They usually top the best vacuum insulated mugs list and their most popular model has over 22,000 ratings and 5 stars on Amazon. I have one and love it, it keeps my coffee hot for hours when I’m on the go and it’s super easy to take apart and clean. I’ve even ordered them for friends because they weren’t available locally but this weekend I noticed True Value now carry the brand.

Their standard and most popular flask sells for around 7.800KD on Amazon without shipping but True Value is selling them for 13.950KD which is double the price. So it’s actually cheaper if you just ordered it online where you get a much larger choice in colors, but at least you now have the option to buy them locally.

I’ve previously posted about renting bikes from Extreme Sports on the Gulf Road but there is also an alternative option. Bike Station is another bike rental option on the Gulf Road with two locations, one in the Pearl Marzouq parking lot and the other next to the Kuwait Towers.

Their bikes seem to be in good condition and they charge 3KD for 1 hour or 5KD for 2 hours. If you rent the bike for longer then it’s a flat 2.5KD per hour rate.Because of the summer heat, they’re currently only operating from 6PM to 1AM. For more info check out their instagram @bikestation.kw