Category: Information

It’s been a month since I got my Toyota Hilux and since then I’ve done two Saudi trips and driven over 5,000KM in it. I’ve also started personalizing the car with various upgrades similar to what I did with my FJ Cruiser 12 years ago and my Wrangler before that. But, the difference this time around is that I’ve mostly managed to find everything I needed locally instead of having to ship things in. Here is what I’ve gotten done so far and from where:

Window Tint
The first thing I did was get my windows tinted, I previously used Huper-Optik on my FJ and decided to use the same brand again since I didn’t have any issues with it after 12 years. Motorworks are the dealers for it so went and got my tint done there at their new workshop. They took over the old Mercedes garage on the 4th Ring Road so their place is now HUGE. I dropped the car in the morning and picked it up in the afternoon and it cost me 110KD. Need to actually take one of my other cars back there to get tinted as well now that I think about it.

Paint Protection Film
For PPF I decided to get it done at ProTech Monte-Carlo. To save money I originally went and got it done at another place first, but they didn’t do a good job and had missed some spots so I decided to get it done again at ProTech. This happens when you try to save money, you end up spending more than if you had done it right the first time around. I only got the front of my car done, so full hood, full fenders, front bumper etc. I think I paid around 190KD but that’s because I kept some of the previous PPF from the first place on. ProTech are really the best at details with the aim of making sure you can’t tell there is any protection on the car. I really regret not going there to begin with but oh well.

Wheels
I originally was planning to buy my wheels online but the vast amount of options available was giving me anxiety, especially since you basically have to imagine them on the car. In the end I decided to go local and ended up trying to decide between two brands, EVO Corse (Epic Overland are the dealers) or BRAID (Formula Wheel are the dealers). I decided to go with BRAID and now that they’re on the car I think I made the right decision. The original Hilux wheels were 18″ but I went with 17″ BRAID’s because I prefer having more rubber between the road and the car. I tend to hit or scrape my tires on curbs so more rubber means less chance the wheels are getting scratched. I paid 590KD for 4 wheels.

Tires
I’m a big fan of BF Goodrich and Michelin tires, the same dealer (KAICO) sells both brands and they’re the only two tire brands I use on all 7 of my cars. I decided to get the BFG All-Terrains for the Hilux, the same ones I had on my FJ and they’re great because they’re pretty much puncture proof. The original tires on the car were 265/60/R18, I decided to go larger and so went with 265/70/R17. They’re just over an inch taller and I was able to fit them with no bodywork modification. Other than looking better and raising the car height, my speedometer is now also accurate instead of it being around 10km off. Four tires cost me 420KD.

Lift Kit
To fit the larger tires and also improve the ride quality a bit I had to get a lift kit. There is only one place I trust for any 4×4 work and its ORP. I posted about them 12 years ago when I had the lift kit on my FJ installed there. Back then they had just opened, it was a tiny garage and they were just getting started. Since then they’ve grown a lot and now have a pretty big showroom with a much much larger garage in the back. They are also dealers for multiple 4×4 brands including Old Man Emu, ARB, WARN, Rhino, Mickey Thompson, Fabtech, Total Chaos, Method, TJM, FOX, you name it. They’re so good that people from around the GCC bring their 4x4s to them to get them modified for offroading. They’re so miles ahead of everyone and their customer service is the best there is.

Anyway, because I’m continuing to stick to brands I trust I went with Old Man Emu for my suspension again which is the same brand as what I had on my FJ and my Wrangler before that. ORP was out of stock on my rear shocks so had to get those from Alsayer who are also the dealers. I then needed OME upper control arms and both ORP and Alsayer were out of stock so I checked in Dubai and Riyadh since I had trips to both places. Dubai was also out of stock but I did find one last piece at the OME dealer in Riyadh and so got it from there. In total it cost me around 450KD for everything including installation and alignment (which ORP do in-house). Installation took a day so dropped the car in the morning before work and then picked it up after work.

Sound System
The last thing I did to my Hilux was upgrade the sound system and I decided to go with FOCAL since they made speakers that were plug and plug with my Hilux. I ended up installing the speakers myself which were relatively easy and only took a few hours following a step-by-step video on YouTube. What a difference the speakers made, I can’t believe they sound this good and they didn’t even require me to install a separate amp. I ended up ordering them from a website in South Africa called Angrijeep because the price there was 50% cheaper than anywhere else. They cost me 115KD and another 35KD for shipping plus I ordered a Dynamat Kit from Amazon which cost me 30KD plus 16KD for shipping. I definitely got the best bang for my buck.

Whats Next
I’ve pretty much done everything I wanted to do except I now need to get a roll cover for my tub in the back. That way I can put tools and gear in the back and not worry about them getting stolen or damaged by the weather. I want a Mountain Top EVOm roll cover and the only dealer in our region is Arctic Trucks Dubai, so I’m heading there in a couple of weeks. Since I’m driving all the way there I’m also going to get a few other things including a Mountain Top spots bar and Rival 4×4 skid plates. Once I get those fitted the only thing left will be installing a tailgate control locking kit since right now the tailgate doesn’t lock and unlock with the remote. I think I’ll be done after that, I hope.

If you have any questions or are curious about the availability of any brands locally, let me know in the comments.

Update: Ended up driving to Dubai and getting the Mountain Top EVOm roll cover installed, plus the sports bar and the Rival Underbody guard. Got it all done at Arctic Trucks Dubai.

A few days ago Saudi Arabia announced that any GCC resident can now apply for a tourism eVisa. Previously you could only apply for an eVisa if you were from specific countries, while everyone else had to go through a more complicated process that included getting bank statements and visiting the embassy.

With the new announcement, there are still some requirements like your passport being valid for 6+ months, your residency valid for 3+ months and your occupation should be listed as eligible, but these are just minor things.

Once you get your visa online, you can choose to fly to Saudi or just drive there. Al Khobar and Bahrain are around 3-4 hours after crossing the border while Riyadh is around 5. If you missed my guide to driving to Saudi check it here, or apply for a Saudi visa by going to visitsaudi.com/visa

The LOYAC Academy of Performing Arts are looking for dance teachers. If you’re interested, click here.

The luxury hotel Waldorf Astoria will be opening today at The Avenues. It will be the second hotel at The Avenues and the mall entrance is in the Prestige area near the curved escalators. There aren’t any photos of the hotel online other than renderings, but if you want to check them out here is the link.

Last week Shop&Ship announced they would be increasing their prices but didn’t mention by how much. If like me you were curious to know how much more you would be paying, the new prices are now out and so I decided to do a before and after comparison. Below are three screenshots comparing the cost of shipping three different weights, 0.1kg, 0.5kg and 1kg.

Note, these are Flex membership prices since with the regular membership you can’t pay by 100g increments. The new prices are an increase of about 12%.

Tim Hortons, the popular Canadian coffee chain is reopening in Kuwait today at 5PM. According to their Instagram post, the first 50 customers will be getting free drinks every week for a year. They’re opening 5 locations today which include:

• Awtad Tower
• Argan Al-Bidaa
• Argan Square
• Blajat Corniche
• Dining DT The Dining Complex

I don’t know where the last two locations are, but if you do, let me know in the comments so I can link them.

Grand Hyatt, the new hotel thats part of the new 360 Mall extension is soft opening today. I posted a sneak peek of the hotel last month but today it will be opening to the public. So if you want to check it out and try out any of the new restaurants, now you can. @grandhyattkuwait

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

New This Weekend:
Bullet Train (7.5)
Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher (5.4)
School of Magical Animals (5.5)

Other Movies Showing:
A Day to Die (3.6)
DC League of Super-Pets (7.9)
Elvis (7.7)
Jurassic World Dominion (6.2)
Minions: The Rise of Gru (7.4)
Paradise Highway (5.3)
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (5.6)
The Black Phone (7.4)
The Deep House (5.4)
Top Gun: Maverick (8.7)

Classic Movies Showing:
Casino – 1995 (8.2)

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

IMAX Movies Showing:
Antarctica
Ocean Odyssey
Turtle Odyssey

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

I posted an update to my T1 to T4 shuttle bus post, in summary, there is no airport shuttle bus once you leave the terminal but you can take the public bus. Read the update here.

A couple of days back I posted about the lack of an English option in the Sahel App and clearly a lot of people are frustrated by this. But I bring you good news!

According to a source involved in the project, the app has had the English option available for a while now but are unable to launch it just yet because some of the entities that are in Sahel have not finished adapting to English and English data. That’s why it’s taken longer than expected to roll out the English version, but it will eventually roll out.

That actually makes a lot of sense. For some reason, I thought it was just about translating the text inside the app to English but I didn’t consider the fact that the English data we input would then have to work with the various different ministries that all deal with Arabic paperwork. The fact that the ministries are now working to have English be an option is actually impressive.

Yesterday I got a tour of the new Grand Hyatt Hotel that’s opening as part of the new 360 Mall extension. I have to admit, I went unprepared. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting the hotel to be anything special but I went out of curiosity. I even left my camera in the car because I didn’t think I needed it and I quickly regretted that as soon as I walked into the hotel.

The best way to describe Grand Hyatt is that it’s the hotel we’ve always wanted Kuwait to have.

Grand Hyatt is massive and there is so much to talk about and cover that I’ve decided to do it over multiple posts, a sort of a “Grand Journey”. For this initial post, I’m going to just quickly go through some of the main areas of the hotel which are the lobby, restaurants, spa, and a peek at one of the rooms. But over the next month or so, I’ll delve deeper into the various spaces and share more specific areas like the corporate meeting rooms or the VIP suites at The Arena which will be managed by Grand Hyatt. In a future post I will also go through the different rooms including the Presidential Suite which is so large it took me 45 seconds walking at a fast pace to get from one end to the other. If there is anything specific you guys want to see or know about, I could also put together a post covering those questions.

The Lobby
The hotel will have two three entrances, a small one at the mall side in the new extension of 360 next to the pond, and a main entrance from the street side that leads straight into the lobby (*Was just told there is a third entrance next to Table Otto in 360 Wadi). I came in from the mall side which is one level above the lobby so we had to take the stairs down. It’s a luxury hotel and so you get that premium feeling as soon as you walk in. The decoration isn’t very busy with lots of large empty spaces, the ceiling is very high, there is a striking large sculpture in the middle, and expensive artwork and pieces spread throughout the floor. It feels like walking into a luxury hotel in Dubai which is something we’ve lacked in Kuwait.

Saheel Lounge
The Saheel Lounge is on the same floor as the lobby and is composed of different styled seating spaces. It’s a social space where you can come have a drink or a small bite with a friend or someone you’re meeting.

Liberté
There are three restaurants at the hotel and Liberté is the one most people will see and likely visit since it’s located partially inside the hotel, and partially inside the mall. It’s a modern brasserie and is located adjacent to the hotel’s mall entrance.

’Stambul
This is going to be the main hotel restaurant, it’s where hotel guests will come for breakfast but also where people would come for lunch. It’s the largest restaurant at the hotel and is described as a theatrical Turkish dining experience.

MEI LI
This is the restaurant I’m anticipating the most. It’s a fine dining Chinese restaurant that is really beautifully designed. It’s the area of the hotel I took the most photos of but it sadly won’t be ready in time for the hotel opening. The tentative opening date of MEI LI is currently October but that can change.

The Rooms
The hotel will have over 300 rooms including 21 that will have their own garden terraces, 35 Grand Club Suites, eight Junior Suites, and one Presidential Suite. From what I saw on the website while trying to book a room, prices will start at around 150KD a night without breakfast.

Noor Spa
This was also one of the most photogenic spaces in the hotel and will definitely be the most instagrammable area by fashionistas. The spa is split into half with a stream splitting the men’s and womens areas both of which have gyms, treatment rooms, and features like steam and sauna rooms. At both ends of the pool is a pathway that leads you to an outdoor area where you can tan and chill under the sun surrounded by water and greenery. The spa will be available to use by hotel guests as well as have a limited number of yearly memberships.

So that’s pretty much a quick rundown of the main areas of the hotel. As I said I’ll go into more details in future posts but for now I just wanted to give a general overview to start with. It really is a beautiful hotel and after finishing the tour and initially taking photos with my phone, I ended up going to my car and getting my camera and coming back to shoot a few more photos.

The hotel is set to open on August 15th which is less than a month from now. Booking is already open on their website which you can check out by clicking here or you can check them out on Instagram @grandhyattkuwait

Back in November, I posted about Pret A Manger being brought to Kuwait by One PM Franchising which is owned by Hamad Al Sayer. They had told me they would be opening their first location this year and a few days ago they finally revealed the location.

Pret is planning to open their first store in Al Hamra Tower this October if everything goes to plan. Opening in Al Hamra Tower is actually a great idea due to the number of employees working in the building. Back when I was working for the government my office was in Al Hamra Tower. During lunch, I’d go down to the mall and it would be packed with employees and most would be at PICK which always had a long queue. So Pret should do really well there.

Their Al Hamra location is going to be the first to open but they still have a second one planned for this year and now I’m curious to where that one will be. To stay posted on Pret A Manger’s news, follow them on Instagram @pretkw.official

Every now and then I get comments under old recycling posts or emails asking me who they can contact to pick up stuff for recycling. It’s usually paper waste or old electronics that they want to recycle because they care about the environment. Well, I finally have an answer to that question now.

Enviroserve is a recycling facility in Kuwait that originally started off focusing on e-waste. I posted about them a few years ago but since that post they’ve grown to offer full recycling services and last year they introduced it to individuals and companies.

Enviroserve now recycles the following:
– Electronics
– Paper and Cardboard
– Plastics

Their pick-up rates are pretty decent. If you want a one-time pick up its 5KD, if you want a weekly pick up it’s 10KD a month, and if you want a monthly pickup it’s 48KD a year.

To find out more or to book a pick up, click here.

One of the biggest complaints about the National Library is that it is only open during the day and only on weekdays when everyone is at work. But, starting this Tuesday, June 14th, the National Library will now open in the evenings from 4PM to 9PM, but only on Tuesdays.

I love the library so I hope this new influx of traffic won’t be an issue. There are a lot of important books and archives there with very little monitoring by staff or security. I’ve spent so much time there alone flipping through books and newspapers without seeing anyone so I’m personally worried some people will take advantage and steal books or rip pages out of the newspapers.

If you didn’t know about the library or want to know what’s there, check out my previous post here.

Yesterday I listed a bunch of landmarks that were demolished over the past few years but I didn’t mention Messilah Beach since I’m not really sure whats going on there. It’s meant to be closed for renovations but I don’t know if they’ve completely demolished it or not. Based on Google Maps, it looks like it’s still there but in any case, the video above is a 3D animation of what Messilah Beach will eventually look like once it’s completed.

Just going off the video it looks like it will be a less approachable more premium beach. What was great about the old Messilah Beach was how affordable and accessible it was to everyone. I used to go there when I was in school since it was the only nice beach we could afford.

The new renovated Messilah will contain:
6 Restaurant blocks
Swimming Pool and Wet Recreation areas
Jogging Track
Hard and Soft Landscaping
450 Car Parking spaces