Category: Information

Cari, the new food delivery app I posted about earlier in the month is set to soft launch on October 26th if everything goes according to plan. This will basically be a beta launch that would be open to exclusive users and a way for their restaurant partners to get familiar with their system.

The public launch for Cari on the other hand will be on November 1st, so in around a week’s time.

As I previously mentioned, one of the things Cari will be offering to its users that will set them apart from its competition is delivery in 30 minutes or less. If you’re interested in getting early-access to the app, they have a sign up form on their website getcari.com.

Winter Wonderland is now confirmed to be opening this December where Shaab Park (location) used to be. The park will feature more than 30 rides, skill games and attractions, live performances, and booths serving various delicious food and drinks (source).

Yesterday I decided to fly my drone over the site to see what they were up to. There were around a dozen heavy trucks working on the site and parts of it had already been paved so progress is pretty quick.

I love and hate the location they’ve picked to set up Winter Wonderland. On the bright side, it’s where Shaab Park used to be, and having Winter Wonderland there even if temporary is better than having demolished Shaab Park and not done anything with the land.

But, on the other hand, it’s a very congested area and there aren’t enough parking spots at the moment. During the holidays, Shaab Park didn’t have enough parking spots for cars so they would end up parking on the side of the Gulf Road and double park all around the neighborhood. And that was for Shaab Park, so imagine the kind of traffic Winter Wonderland is going to drive into the area.

I’m not sure why they didn’t decide to open it where Entertainment City was since there is plenty of land there for parking, it isn’t in a congested neighborhood, and it’s right off the main highway.

In any case, the Winter Wonderland website and Instagram account are now both live and they’ve already started posting information including a FAQ. Tickets aren’t on sale yet but will be soon but for now check our their Instagram @winterland_kw and visit their website winterland.kw to stay posted.

I recently noticed that for most of the items I’ve been ordering from Amazon I’ve been shipping them directly to Kuwait whenever possible instead of shipping to my US forwarding mailbox. I wasn’t sure if it was cheaper or more expensive but then I realized I could actually do a comparison with an item I recently sent to my Shop&Ship mailbox.

I ordered a USB adapter (so its very light) and shipped it to my Shop&Ship mailbox. I paid KD3.96 for shipping because I have a Flex account. Based on the price breakdown, I was able to calculate how much regular Shop&Ship would have cost and with the Amazon shipping price, I just added the item to my cart now and put my Kuwait address to get that cost. Here is what I found:

Shipping Costs
Sho&Ship: KD6.82
Shop&Ship Flex: KD3.96
Amazon: KD4.71

So in my case, I saved a tiny bit of money shipping it to Shop&Ship first, but only because I have Flex. I tried to find another price comparison example, but since the last time I had an item from Amazon shipped to my US forwarding mailbox was back in March, I no longer have the ability to view how much I paid for shipping.

But basically, with the new Shop&Ship price increases, it’s no longer that feasible to ship through them when you have the option to ship directly to Kuwait.

There is a new rule that will come into effect Saturday (October 1) where food delivery companies like Talabat, Carriage, and Deliveroo will no longer be allowed to use third-party drivers. Delivery companies will only be allowed to use drivers registered under their company to deliver food and in cars with clear branding and information (no more plain white generic cars).

Since the majority of the drivers (and riders) are contracted from third parties due to visa restrictions and limitations, this is gonna cause a major disruption in the food delivery service.

So starting this Saturday, expect slower delivery times, many restaurants showing up as busy, or restaurants showing as not available.

Last year I posted about Maher Barakat, the first and only Kuwaiti to ever be drafted it to the NFL as well as being the first football player from his college to go pro. Maher broke college and division records and became really well known in his town back in the 1960s earning him the nickname Bear-Cat.

Last night, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology decided to honor Maher with an induction into their hall of fame. The ceremony was streamed live and Maher’s grandson accepted the induction on his behalf with a heartwarming speech. As of this post, the induction ceremony is available to watch online at the following link (Maher gets inducted at the 51min mark)

If you missed the post on how Maher made it to the NFL, click here.

Last week Saudi Arabia announced that any GCC resident can now apply for an tourism eVisa as long as you meet some basic requirements. I got in touch with their eVisa team for more information and here is everything you need to know.

To apply for an E-Visa you need to do it through the following website: ⁦‪visa.mofa.gov.sa/Account/Loginindividuals

Once you visit that link click on the letter “E” on the top left to go to the English page. Then on the right column under “Login Of Individual Visitors To Saudi Arabia” click on Register to create an account.

After creating an account log in and then click on “Add A New Application” on the right side. Click Agree a couple of time and you’ll eventually reach the Visa application form. Make sure for “Visa Type” you select Tourism and then under “Saudi Mission in” you select “Kuwait”.

Other than that it should be fairly simple. There are some requirements which are:

• Your residency visa has to be valid of at least 3 months
• Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months
• Resident’s occupation should be among the eligible occupations listed on the portal (more on that below)
• For those under the age of 18, one of the parents must apply first and must be present with them
• First-degree relatives (Parents, husband, wife, and children) can get the visa online, as long as they are coming together with the one holding the residency

‎Regarding the resident’s occupation, it’s too long a list to share but everything I thought of seems to be listed including salesman, waiter or call center operator. So it’s not just managerial positions. The only occupation I couldn’t find was “Driver” but even that might possibly be listed under a different name.

Here are some visa details they also shared with me:

• Cost is 300SAR along with health insurance fees
• Multiple or single entry, this is not an option for the applicant, authorities (MOFA) will decide on a case by case basis
• Validity of 1 year for the multiple entries, and 3 months for the single entry
• Length of stay is 90 days for the multiple entry, and 30 days for the single entry
• The new regulation took effect from the 1st of September 2022
• You will receive the visa within 48 hours at the registered email
• You can use the tourist visa to perform Umrah, but not during the Hajj season

This visa is also valid for land, port or air entry.

Finally, they also shared the below requirements for entering Saudi as a tourist:

• The tourist visa includes medical insurance covering infection with the Coronavirus
• If you are going to drive, you must hold a valid international driving license or a license issued from a GCC country, and the car must have insurance. Insurance can be done at the border on the Saudi side. For more information on traveling by car check out my previous guide here.

And that’s pretty much it. If you have any questions let me know in the comments and I’ll try to answer it.

I ordered an item from Amazon that costs $4.99 and weighs just 0.1lbs. It’s a stupid adapter I needed which I couldn’t find in Kuwait (I found the non-L-shaped version only). Since the item weighs less than 100g and I have a Shop&Ship Flex account where they calculate shipping per 100g increments, this is the lightest weight they charge you for. It also costs under $100 so its exempt from customs.

If you’re curious as to what is the cheapest you can pay for a Shop&Ship package with the new rates, this is it:

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.