Author: Mark

Just a quick note for those of you trying to post an item for sale in the Classifieds section, it won’t work at the moment. The section is currently getting a software upgrade as well as a minor facelift which is why you’ve been getting errors for the past two days. The developer promised to get it done today but might need another day or two to make changes. Sorry about that!

Update: Classifieds is back up. Ran into some issues with the upgrade but finally got it done. Doesn’t look different right now but behind the scenes I’m now running the latest version of the software and most importantly, the errors with uploading images is now gone. I’m now gonna be working on the facelift.

Back in June, I posted about how I was able to order a new espresso machine straight from Italy without having to pay crazy shipping prices. I briefly mention what I ended up buying but since I still hadn’t had the machine for that long, I decided I’d leave the proper review for another time and since it’s now been a few months here is what I think of my setup.

Firstly my coffee machine set up is composed of the following three main parts:
Rocket Appartamento
Rocket Faustino Grinder
Acaia Lunar Scale

These three items along with my leveling tool (instead of a coffee tamper) have proven to be a dream team for me. One of the hardest things to get right is consistent coffee on a daily basis. There are too many factors in play and if just one of the steps changes slightly you end up with a different tasting coffee. This is why people generally have a favorite barista at their favorite coffee place, people want their coffee done the same way every morning. My setup is allowing me to get the same result every time and so I’m loving it.

My previous espresso machine was the Breville Oracle which had basically a fully automated process to make my latte. My Rocket setup is fully manual so I have the following steps I need to take:

• I first fill up my milk jug with milk and place it next to my machine
• I remove the portafilter from the coffee machine
• I place portafilter on my scale and zero it
• I then grind 18g of coffee into the portafilter. My grinder has a timer and I’ve set it to grind for 12.7 seconds which generally grinds around 18g of coffee
• I then place portafilter back on my scale to see if I hit 18g. I’m fine with 18-18.3g of coffee, if its a bit more I remove some, if it’s less I add more
• Using my leveling tool I press it hard on my portafilter and rotate it 8 times
• I then purge the steamer to let out condensation while also purging the group head to stabilize the water temperature
• I mount the portafilter back in the machine, I place my scale under the portafilter and place my coffee cup on it and zero the scale
• I then take my milk jug and start steaming my milk, once the milk gets warm I start the coffee-making process
• My scale can sense when coffee drips into the cup, it then automatically starts a timer while weighing my coffee.
• In the middle of this process, my milk hits the correct temperature (I can now feel it with my hands but I started off using a thermometer) so I turn off the steamer, clean the wand and purge it to clear any milk that might have gotten inside
• I then get back to focusing on my coffee. Once I get 36 grams of coffee in my cup I stop the machine. I try to get 36g of coffee in around 20-24 seconds
• I then take my milk and pour it into my coffee cup attempting latte art which I’m consistently terrible in and then I’m done

It’s a lot of steps but it’s become second nature and I timed the process and from start to finish and it takes just 2 minutes. 2 minutes to make a great latte, that’s really not bad at all. Most importantly is how good my coffee is and it’s always the same. I’m making such good coffee now I’ve stopped having coffee completely outside my house. When I had the Oracle I had consistency issues all the time and used to still have coffee at %Arabica on weekends because their coffee just tasted better than mine at home. But now I’m basically making the same quality at home with my set up so I haven’t had a single coffee outside since I got the machine. Not exaggerating either, not one single coffee outside my home since I got the machine back in May or June (whenever I got my machine). No more inconsistent coffees because of different baristas, no more complaining about the temperature of the milk because they’ve either boiled it too hot or not heated it enough. I have the exact same coffee every single time.

My coffee experience has improved tremendously because of my setup and I’m using the Appartamento model which is the entry-level Rocket machine. There are a lot more sophisticated models with more capabilities, but for my needs, the Appartamento has been more than enough and great value. The only negatives I really have are the following:

• I wish the drip tray was bigger in the Appartamento
• I wish the Appartamento could hold more water
• The Faustino grinder touch screen is great unless your fingers are damp and then it doesn’t work

Honestly, these three issues are very minor and aren’t really issues. So yeah, obviously I would highly recommend my setup especially if you want to make great espresso at home but don’t want to invest crazy money. My setup including accessories which I didn’t list above cost me around KD700 shipped to Kuwait. Sounds a lot but keep in mind it costs me around 500fils to make a latte at home using my favorite beans from %Arabica (Arabica Blend) and with lacto free milk (which is more expensive than normal milk). A regular latte at a coffee shop costs around KD1.750 with regular milk. I have three lattes a day so that’s a saving of 3.750KD a day or 112.500KD a month. So in just seven months of use, I’ll recoup the cost of my setup and you could recoup it even faster by using cheaper beans and milk. So you’re paying this much money upfront, but saving so much more in the long run.

So if you want to now buy a coffee machine online, check out my previous post here.

Kuwait’s landmark ice skating rink was designed by the French architect Dominique Beau in the 70s and was considered to be the first of its kind in the Middle East when it was inaugurated in 1980. Domonique also designed the pattern of the terracotta tiles that adorned the inside and outside walls of the rink. It was custom made in France but inspired by the local Sadu weavings which he encountered during his trips to the Gulf region.

Sadly the ice skating rink was demolished earlier this year to make way for a newer one as part of Al Shaheed Park expansion plans. I couldn’t find much more information on the construction of the original ice skating rink or the architect online other than what I’ve posted here, but I’ll keep looking. For now, check out the photos of the construction in the post below.

This cable park came out of nowhere! For the past few months, I’ve noticed cranes at the far side of Green Island whenever I rode by on my bicycle. I just thought they might be clearing out some old junk from there but turns out they were building a cable park.

A cable park is a wakeboard or water ski park where instead of being pulled around by a boat, you get pulled around by overhead cables. Previously to wakeboard, I’d have to book a boat for an hour, then drive an hour down to Khieran, an hour back when done and the whole thing would cost me KD35. Now with the cable park I can just drive 5 minutes down the street to Green Island and wakeboard there for just KD6 an hour (or KD8 if you don’t have the gear). Seems too good to be true.

I’ve booked an hour on Tuesday to try it out and once I do I’ll share more details. For now you can check out the cable park’s Instagram account @cablepark.kuwait for some pictures and a link in case you want to book.

Lululemon the popular athletic apparel retailer brand is opening up at The Avenues. Lululemon is popular mostly because of their yoga wear and I know a lot of people (well mostly girls) who are going to be excited about this since they no longer have to order their clothes online or wait for a Dubai trip. The store is opening up in Phase 4 of The Avenues right next door to the clothing brand Monki.

Yesterday I found out the popular Thai restaurant Pattaya Beach closed down their Kuwait City location. I think they had been there since the late 80s so it sucks that it closed down. I drove by their Salmiya location and that turned out to be open but part of the restaurant charm was the Kuwait City location in that old travel agency mall. So many things are changing!

For my last post on the home gym build, I’ll be writing about training racks. I needed a compact and versatile set up since I was using only half of one of my rooms for a gym and still wanted to be able to perform a variety of exercises. I decided to get a squat rack because I’d be able to perform chest, shoulder, legs, triceps and back workouts, basically, the whole body using this one set up which made it very versatile.

I found a bunch of local companies that sold racks but I narrowed it down to three options:

Sports World – They had a Torque brand squat rack
Nomad Strength – A very cool local brand that custom-build racks
AFE Fitness – Another local brand that custom-build racks

Sports World sells the Arsenal 7 squat rack by Torque Fitness but it was priced at KD480 and ready-made so you couldn’t customize it if you needed to. Nomad Strength sell their squat rack for KD350 without any attachments. AFE Fitness on the other hand sell their squat rack for KD155. So I decided to go with AFE. Their work looked really solid and they’ve built rigs for commercial gyms so I knew I’d be getting a rack that could take abuse. But, what I also liked about AFE is they had a pretty cool website that allowed you to build and spec the rack as you wanted. This is such a smart idea because I went from a KD155 rack to a fully specced out one for KD242 with just a few clicks.

The way the AFE website works is you pick which piece of equipment you want, you then get to pick if you want it in their signature red color or fully matt black. You then have addons you could get so I got the dips bar attachment (KD30), the safety bar attachment (KD20), Ground Rotational Landmine (KD20), installation (KD10), and delivery (KD2). I also asked for the height of the setup to be reduced by 10cm. It was a super easy process, got everything I wanted, and more for a good price plus I was even was able to customize it for my room.

The rack was built and delivered to me in around a week and I’m loving it so far. As expected it’s really well built but it also has great details like cut out numbers next to the holes so you can keep track of where you’re putting the attachments. In my case, I’ve started sticking labels on the side to help me set up my rack quicker for the various exercises I’ll be performing. The only negative I could think of is that the J-hooks that hold the bar aren’t rubber/plastic protected so they’re already starting to get scratched up. It’s fine for my J-hooks to get scratched (pictured below), but my expensive bar has a black zinc coating and that’s gonna end up getting scratched and not sure I’m going to be too happy about that. If it got scratched over a long period of time that’s fine, makes me feel like I’ve been working out. But, I don’t want the thing to get totally scratched up from the first week, that’s not rewarding.I might find a DIY solution but haven’t really given it much thought yet.

Other than that quibble it’s a great rack. I liked it so much I just placed an order this morning for their dumbbells storage unit (also customized the length for my needs). They have a whole variety of racks and rigs so if you’re looking for anything else from a simple pull up bar to a full-on 2x1m outdoor training rig, check out their website arabakw.com

If you missed my previous build parts here are the links:
Home Gym Build: Part 1 – The Floor
Home Gym Build: Part 2 – The Equipment

I know this is a totally random thing to review but this little device is just amazing. For the past couple of months I’ve been looking online for a portable pressure washer. I wanted to be able to wash my Alfa whenever I needed to as well as random stuff like my apartment AC compressors, or my BBQ grill, just random things that don’t have water access nearby. Anyway, I didn’t really find anything interesting and basically gave up until I spotted the Kärcher OC 3 at Ace hardware. I had actually checked out Kärcher pressure washers during my research but for some weird reason never came across the OC 3 which is exactly what I was hoping to find.

The OC 3 is a compact pressure washer with a built-in rechargeable battery and a 4L water tank which makes it extremely portable and practical. So far I’ve been using it to wash my bike after rides but this would also be great to take to the beach for example so you can wash your feet from sand when done or to spray down your wakeboard gear from seawater before shoving them into the back of your car.

There is one major negative with the OC 3 which could be a deal-breaker depending on what you’re planning to use it for. The OC 3 can hold 4L of water which is around 2 minutes of continuous spraying. 4L is more than enough for washing my bike but if I want to wash my car it means I need to find a tap nearby to refill the unit or I need to bring a larger water source with me (like a bucket) and use the included suction hose attachment. I originally thought the 15-minute battery life would be an issue but didn’t realize I would run out of water first.

Other than the water capacity limitation I love this thing. Ace carries the unit with the adventure pack which is an addon storage unit that clips to the bottom of the OC 3. The adventure pack includes a brush attachment that you can use to wash mud and dirt off a bike for example and it also contains the suction hose so you could use an external water supply. The cost of the OC 3 is KD43.750 and Ace only had a couple on display so not sure if they have more in stock. I couldn’t find it anywhere else in Kuwait so if you want one you should probably try to pass by ASAP to see if they still have them.

Update: Looks like I lucked out on the price because according to the local Karcher dealer, the price I paid was for a different unit (the K2). Ace mispriced the OC 3 and the actual cost of the machine is around KD68 not KD43.

Enviroserve is a local recycling facility that is trying to solve the e-waste problem in Kuwait. E-waste or electronic waste is basically discarded electrical appliances and devices which the majority of people generally throw out with regular garbage. Some examples of e-waste are laptops, computers, tablets, phones, refrigerators, IT equipment, lighting, and air conditioners. Enviroserve takes your e-waste and recycles them for you in an eco-friendly manner.

There are two ways you can dispose of your e-waste:

Drop off: Enviroserve have a bin at the Scientific Center (inside next to Starbucks) that can be used to drop off small appliances and devices

Pick up: They can pick up your e-waste but they charge a fee. If your e-waste fits in a small car the cost is KD5, if your e-waste requires a large car the cost is KD10.

If you’re a company and are getting rid of your old computers, they also have a data protection service where they secure the picked up hardware until all the hard drives are destroyed along with any confidential information that might have still been on the drives.

If you want to find out more about Enviroserve or if you want to request a collection, here is the link to their website.

Back in 2011 KDD dropped the old school names and packaging for some of their ice creams and replaced them with the generic Blitz name and packaging. But, it looks like KDD is bringing back the original names and designs again. The KDD app is now showing Failaka, Burgan and Columbia again as well as some other new items like lolly sticks.

I don’t know if this a temporary marketing thing or not but I hope it stays. I also hope they’re not gonna kill off the lolly pyramids and replace them with these new sticks. Also KDD, why did you close down the KDD store near my place in Salmiya??

via @inspirededibles

If you missed my Part 1 post on my home gym build, you can check that post here. For the second part, I wanted to talk about some of the equipment I got, where I got it from, and what options you have for getting the same as well. The pandemic started this home gym craze which has left the market bare of decent gym equipment, and when you do find any available, they tend to be overpriced. The quality of some of the equipment being sold is also questionable with lots of clones and overpriced poor quality hardware being imported by people who are looking to make a quick buck.

For my gym needs all I really needed was weight plates, an Olympic bar, a curl bar, and dumbbells. I managed to get everything except for dumbbells. Not sure what pre-corona prices were for dumbbells, but right now they seem incredibly expensive, at least to me. I can’t just get one set of dumbbells either, I’d have to get a whole range since depending on the exercise I might need anything from 10KG up to 36KG. So for now, I’ve put the thought of getting dumbbells aside unless I want to spend over 700KD which I’m not gonna do.

Weight plates aren’t that difficult to find, but finding a whole set of weights is. I was originally planning to get my plates from ProSports, but they had certain weights out of stock when I first checked which meant for example I could get 20KG plates but couldn’t find maybe 5KG or 10KG. I then decided to get bumper plates from Nomad, but they were out of stock. Gym Doctor? Also out of stock. Nobody had a full set of weight plates and I didn’t want to mix and match different brands or looks since my OCD wouldn’t be able to deal with it. I also needed them to be in KG not Lbs since I’ve only ever used KGs at my gym and didn’t want to change that. At one point I found all the weights I needed on the ProSports website but they were out of stock on the 7ft Olympic bar. I decided to wait until they got the bar in stock, but by then some of the weights were out of stock. Waiting until everything you want is available to order isn’t gonna work.

Eventually, while going through my Instagram explore page I noticed Sports World were selling a Torque brand package that included a full set of colored bumper plates (5KG, 10KG, 15KG, 20KG), a 7ft black Olympic bar and 2 collars all for 392KD. They also had a Torque adjustable bench for 220KD. I also bought extra 2.5KG plates from them. It was around 10PM at night, maybe later and the owner quick responded to my questions on Instagram and I managed to place the order and pay for my items all through Instagram DM. It was an impulse buy but it had to be if I wanted to make sure I got what I wanted before they sold out. The prices might sound expensive, but they’re actually acceptable for what you’re getting. For example, the bumper plate package retail cost is around KD340 in the US (pre-corona) so we’re only paying a slight premium here. What I’ve actually noticed is that the no-brand Chinese stuff is being sold for a pretty high price while the premium brands which have proper dealers in Kuwait kept their prices fairly stable.

So the difference in price between the no-brand clones and premium brand items has narrowed to the point you might as well pay a bit more and just get the premium brands. This price discrepancy is more obvious with things like the adjustable bench. At 220KD I think the bench I got is a steal compared to other benches in the market that cost 150-200KD. The Torque bench is commercial grade and pretty much bombproof and so is gonna withstand all the abuse I give it. But I’ve seen no-brand benches sold for just slightly less that look like they’re gonna start wobbling a week into use. The only thing left that I needed to get was a curl bar and Sports World didn’t have any in stock. I saw one on the Wawan website but they were selling it for 50KD which sounded overpriced. I eventually found one for sale on an Instagram account called @gym__home123 (can it get any more generic?) for 30KD and the guy delivered it the same day so not bad.

I really love the stuff I got, the colorful bumper plates look great and so does the black zinc coated Olympic bar. Since these items were going to be mine and used by me hopefully for a very long time, I wanted to get a proper set of gym equipment and so I’m glad I found these by Torque. I also ended up getting a squat rack to use with all the above but I’m leaving that for the final third post since there is a lot to talk about with that. For now I’ll leave you with a bunch of links below to where you could try and find stuff you need for your own home gym:

Sports World
ProSports
Nomad Strength Co.
Beyond Equipment
Gym Doctor
Perform Athletics
Sports Group
Wawan
@gym__home123

Update: Thanks to a reader ended up finding dumbbells that were priced extremely well, a set from 10KG up to 25KG in 2.5KG increments for just 225KD! Got them from @gymequipmentskwt

Around 7 or 8 years ago I learned how to kiteboard and I’m pretty sure I posted about it but can’t seem to find my old post. In any case, the person I learned with left Kuwait ages ago and so I wanted to post about another place you could learn to kiteboard. Q8 Kite Boarding is a local website that sells kiteboarding gear while also offering lessons. They carry a bunch of brands including Cabrinha, Core, Crazyfly, and Reedin.

Full Program Zero 2 Hero
12 lessons
Lesson duration is 60-75 minutes
Cost: KD280 (KD480 if you don’t have the gear)

Individual lessons are KD25 (45KD if you don’t have the gear)

Since the weather has cooled down, it’s probably a great time to learn to kiteboard. Kiteboarding is also an individual sport so social distancing should be fairly easy. For contact information, visit their website Q8kiteboarding.com

Update: Their Instagram account is @Q8Kiteboarding. Also found out that they were previously called DMBoarding which is the company I learned with. They just renamed now to Q8 Kite Boarding.

The Scientific Center is currently closed because of the pandemic but their gift shop is now online. Weirdly none of their books are available to purchase just some toys and clothing. If you want to check it out, here is the link to their catalog.

To order you need to WhatsApp them on 66305020

Ghazi Al-Mulaifi is a Kuwaiti musician whose brother is Tareq Al-Mulaifi of Cobra Club whom I’ve posted about a few times. Both brothers are super talented and have completely different music styles (like opposites) which is amazing to see. While Tareq is into 80s inspired cinematic synth-pop music, Ghazi on the other hand is interested in Kuwaiti pearl diving music and global jazz. He formed the ensemble Boom Diwan where he and traditional Kuwaiti musicians combine Kuwaiti bahri (sea) music with global jazz for the purpose of creating new Kuwaiti music that revives a musical tradition of dialog and exchange. It’s a bizarre combination but going through their Instagram account it actually seems to work really well.

In the fall of 2018, Ghazi was approached by Bill Bragin who is the executive artistic director at the Arts Center at NYUAD. He was inquiring about six-time grammy award winner Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (Arturo is the son of the late and famed Chico O’Farill). Arturo was looking for musical ties between Afro-Cuba and the Afro-Khaleej and he and Bill visited Kuwait and stayed with Ghazi for a few days. Ghazi invited the members of his ensemble over and that meeting resulted in two Cuban-Khaleeji Project concerts, the first took place in 2019 (video above) while the second took place virtually a few days ago (video below).

It’s all pretty fascinating and I love the fact they’re looking for ways to keep the traditional Kuwaiti pearl diving music alive. If you want to listen to more of Ghazi’s music or if you’re just curious to explore all this further, here are some links:

GhaziMusic.com
KhaleejiMusicAlliance.com
@Boom.Diwan
NYU Abu Dhabi introduces new course on Khaleeji music

A friend just told me about a company called Dustx where they come over and wash your house exterior. Kinda like those home car wash services except for your house. They come over with their truck and powerwash the outside of your building making it look all clean and new again.

Prices vary depending on the size of the building but range from 180-370KD. If you’re interested you could get in touch with them and they’ll over someone to check the house and quote you. Their Instagram account is @dustx.kw