Below is a list of this weekends events. There also is a rallycross event taking place at 1:30PM today at Kuwait Motor Town. I don’t have it listed below because I don’t have much more details on this. Check out this weekends list of events below:
The Suzuki Jimny has always had a cult following so when a completely new redesigned Jimny was released, it instantly became a huge hit. I’ve personally been waiting for it to arrive to Kuwait for months now just so I could check it out in person and possibly take one for a test drive. So, when I found out Suzuki launched the new Jimny in Kuwait yesterday, I headed to their showroom to check it out.
I passed by in the evening and they only had one Jimny on display out back behind the showroom. The showroom was fairly busy and I barely could get the attention of a salesman to ask him a few questions about the car. Everybody there was there for the Jimny and they were all buying it. When I left last night all the automatic gearbox versions of the car had been sold out and they had a few manual versions left in limited colors. I don’t think the Suzuki dealership in Kuwait ever experienced this much foot traffic or sold that many cars in a day. That probably has to do with the fact the new Jimny looks great and is very affordable. KD5,200 will get you the manual version while KD5,500 will get you the automatic.
So if you’re hoping to get a new Jimny or at least check it out in person, you’re going to have to pass by their showroom asap before they completely sell out. [Link]
Luna & Beau is the hottest new pet store in Kuwait and I’ll be posting about them soon. But, for now, I do want to post about their Halloween party tonight. I passed by last night and saw them setting things up and it looks like it going to be a lot of fun. So if you have a pet and are looking to do something tonight then consider dropping by Luna & Beau. They’re holding the event in their cafe and its going to run from 7PM to 11PM.
Here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account with more info is @luna_beau
I don’t know why it took so long but we finally have a dedicated cheese shop in Kuwait! La Maison Du Fromage is a new store that just opened up and specializes in everything cheese. Right now they have over 60 different kinds of cheeses but they’re expecting 40 more kinds to arrive soon with the majority not available in supermarkets.
The store is pretty cute but they’re still in their soft launch stage so they’re still stocking up on their products. They will soon have cold cuts, caviar, truffle and truffle oils as well as kitchen tools for cheese. Basically, they’ll be carrying everything you expect a cheese store to carry except for the wine.
La Maison Du Fromage is located in Salmiya near Gia. Their instagram account is @lmdfkw and will be active soon. If you want to check the place out they’re open from 10AM to 10PM and here is their location on [Google Maps]
Golfania is an indoor miniature golf park that’s located in the basement of Discovery Center. They’ve been around for a few years now, but I only tried them out for the first time last night. It’s not a large park but it does offer a bit of fun if you’re in a group or on a date. There are 12 holes in total and depending on how large a group you are, you could zip through them pretty quick. But even if you do end up flying through the course, once you’re done you could head next door to Cosmo for bowling or maybe a game of pool so your trip to Discovery Center would still be worthwhile.
The cost for one round of golf that includes all 12 holes is KD3 per person. It looks a bit lame but we were a group of 4 last night and had a pretty fun time. Here is the location of Discovery Center on [Google Maps]
Can you please remove the super annoying video that plays every time I launch your app? Your app now shuts off my music and podcasts whenever I open it, and the fact that I have to wait 6+ seconds for the video to finish before the app starts loading is even more annoying.
Thank you!
Update: Carriage just informed me they’ll be removing the video next week!
Last week I posted about how the housekeepers category on the popular 4Sale website bothered me since they were basically allowing housekeepers to be sold like slaves (check the picture above). Someone at 4Sale definitely reads my blog since that same night they started cleaning up the housekeepers category. They removed all the posts where housekeepers were being sold in and introduced a new set of rules. When you now visit the housekeepers category on their website you get the popup below:
Roughly translated, the pop up says the following:
Dear customers, in accordance with the instructions from the cybercrime unit at the Ministry of Interior, please take into consideration the following points when posting advertisements in the housekeepers category:
– avoid posting pictures of the housekeepers or copies of their official documents
– avoid using the word maid and instead describe them as domestic workers
– you’re not allowed to mention their religion, skin color or price
– you’re not allowed to use the word for sale
Actually, now that I think about it, it’s possible that someone from the cybercrime unit actually reads my blog and not 4Sale. In any case, I still think more can be done by 4Sale. While browsing through the category I found a few posts that violated the new rules, but I personally think the whole category needs to be shut down anyway.
Earlier this year I sold all my camera gear, and by all I mean everything from my DSLR and lenses, down to accessories like tripods and carrying bags. I wasn’t using my camera gear much cuz everything was so bulky and so got rid of them. Then last month I realized that I actually did need a camera, I just didn’t want something big so I ended up getting the new Sony A7 III mirrorless camera which I have been loving. I’ve also been slowly rebuilding my camera gear again from scratch and one of the first things I needed to do was get a camera strap and bag.
After doing a lot of research, I ended up with Peak Design for both the strap and bag. Peak Design is a pretty popular brand in the photography world, but I only recently found out about them because of their camera strap. Nearly all the Sony A7 review videos I watched had the circular red anchors (pictured above) and I didn’t understand what they were until I saw one of the reviewers snap his camera strap to it. That’s when I knew I needed that camera strap in my life. With my previous cameras, it was pretty unpractical to keep removing and putting the strap on so I always left it off, but with the Peak Design strap, it’s super easy. I shot the video below to show you how quick it is to snap the strap on and off.
I was going to order the strap online but decided to check and see if it was available locally and turned out AAB World had them. I ended up getting the Peak Design Leash Strap which is one of their thinner ones and while picking it up I also checked out the Peak Design bags.
When I was researching bags one of the things I was looking for was a bag that was at least half decent looking and the Peak Design looked pretty good online but I wasn’t convinced until I saw them in person and tried them out at AAB. I decided to go with their Everyday Sling model since I liked the way the bag looked and the way it’s worn. The Everyday Sling comes in two sizes, the 5L which I thought would be perfect for using when I travel, and the 10L size which I thought would be perfect to use locally when I needed to carry all my camera gear.
Full disclosure, AAB ended up giving me the 10L bag for free so I could review it. I had the choice to choose any of their bags but figured I’d have them give me the 10L so I could then buy the cheaper 5L version myself.
I picked up the bag a few weeks ago but waited to get my camera lenses before I could do a proper write-up, and now that I have most of my lenses, I’m kinda concerned the bag isn’t big enough and maybe I should be looking at their backpacks instead. The biggest issue is with my large 100-400mm lens which is a pretty tight fit heightwise. If you watch the video below you’ll see that I do manage to squeeze in all my lenses including the 100-400mm into the bag. But once I put my MacBook into the bag, then it becomes pretty difficult to zip up. I guess the easy fix is just not to carry my MacBook, but I really wanted a bag I could shove everything into and not worry about space.
One thing I was surprised with was how light the bag felt even though I had all my gear in it. I think that has to do with the way the bag is worn. Unlike a regular messenger bag which presses down on a small point on your shoulder with the weight of the bag being on your side, with the Sling, the weight of the bag is spread over a larger portion of your shoulder with most of the weight carried with the help of your back like a backpack. It’s a hybrid of a backpack and messenger bag and I found it easier to carry the gear without my shoulders starting to hurt. I also think the bag looks great and is really practical. You really should watch the video on the Peak Design website to find out about all the cool features of it since they do a great job of showing them. For example, I can carry my tripod with the Everyday Sling by strapping it to the bottom of the back or I can stack lenses inside the bag by using their “FlexFold” dividers. Peak Design really do think of everything which is why they’re loved by so many photographers.
If you’re interested in Peak Design gear, AAB are the local dealers and their prices are similar to if you order it yourself from the Peak Design website. The Leash strap cost me around KD14 while the Everyday Sling 10L bag sells for KD45. They’re both available on the AAB website [Here]
An extremely busy weekend filled with different things to do. If you’re not going to be home on the couch playing Red Dead Redemption 2, below is a list of other things you could do:
A reader sent me a link to an article on FRANCE 24 Observers website on a domestic worker’s experience in Kuwait. The worker was held against her will by her employer and was sexually abused for several months. In the end, she got rescued and you can now read about her ordeal [Here]
Since we are on the subject of domestic workers, can I say how much the housekeepers category on the Q8 4Sale website bothers me? I really like the website but this category basically allows domestic workers to be sold off like household goods.. [Link]
Yesterday I was in Rihab Complex looking for Red Dead Redemption 2 (FYI: Might be out today in Kuwait depending on customs but most likely tomorrow) when I decided to go to the retro gaming store upstairs to check out what they had. I’d posted about that store on the blog a few years ago, it was called Global Game and was just filled with old retro video game consoles. But, a couple of months back the store got a facelift, a name change and I’m assuming, a new owner.
The Global Game store is now called Retro Dungeon and looks a lot nicer and more organized than it did before. The store still specializes in vintage gaming consoles and while there I spotted a whole bunch of them including:
NEC PC-FX
NeoGeo AES
NeoGeo CD
Nintendo 64
Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo GameBoys
Super Nintendo
Panasonic 3DO
Sakhr MSX
Sakhr MSX2
Sega Dreamcast
Sega GameGear
Sega Genesis
Sega CD
Sega Saturn
Sony PlayStation 1
Sony PlayStation 1 Dev Kit
Sony PlayStation 2
Sony PlayStation 2 Dev Kit
And more…
They also had a whole bunch of games, all nicely organized and all wrapped in plastic. The whole place looks way better than it did before but the prices are also on the high side. Somethings made sense, like KD120 for a NeoGeo AES or KD150 for the NeoGeo CD, but KD35 for Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo and KD45 for Donkey Kong Country 2 just seemed over the top.
If you’re looking for vintage games or consoles, check Retro Dungeon out. They’re in an alleyway on the top floor of Rihab Complex, and their instagram account is @retro_dungeon
Not sure if you know this or not, but like watching people play video games is a huge thing, watching people eat is also a pretty huge, at least in Asia. The actual term for it is mukbang which is a combination of the Korean words for eating and broadcasting.
The first time I came across a video of someone eating was back in 2012 when I posted about Emmy who was sent a box filled with sweets and snacks from Kuwait to try. Nowadays though the videos I tend to watch don’t have any talking, they’re usually just of someone sitting in front of their phones and broadcasting themselves eating something. The only sound you’ll hear come from any crunching or slurping that’s taking place. An example is the video above which has 24 million views and is just of a guy eating some crispy fried chicken.
I’ve always found this fascinating so when a friend of mine called Fajer started doing something similar here in Kuwait I got super excited. I’ve known Fajer for years, she’s always been a big foodie and I always love going out to eat with her. Recently she started gaining popularity with her food eating videos. At first, she started posting them on her personal instagram account, but then she got invited by the popular local food account @q8food to do live broadcasts of herself eating there. That’s when she really started blowing up and now even has her own account @fajereats.
I honestly think its a brilliant idea and I’m not only saying that because she’s a friend. With every girl in Kuwait left and right trying to be a fashionista, I love how Fajer is having fun by just being herself in front of the camera, stuffing down a 5 patty burger because she feels like it.
So if you’re into mukbang or curious to check it out, she does a live broadcast a few times a week on @q8food and you can also check out some videos on her own account @fajereats.
Singarea, the popular Asian supermarket now carries live French oysters! They say they’re the first in Kuwait to carry live oysters but that can’t be true right? First or not first it doesn’t really matter though, if you want live oysters I don’t know of any other place you can get them. If you’ve never been or heard of Singarea then click [Here]
