Post by Mark
Yesterday I mentioned I found an old copy of a Kuwait TV Guide from 1989, what I failed to mention is that I bought it from an antique shop. I thought I had posted about these antique shops before, but when I searched through my blog, I couldn’t find anything about them. There is a basement in old Salmiya near Marina Mall filled with shops that sell antiques.
I passed by there last week since I needed to pick up a few items to use as props for a clients photoshoot, and thats when I got the old TV guide and a few other things. The shop I was in actually had a whole bunch of old TV guides along with a whole lot of old magazines and newspapers (even books) from the 50s and 60s all the way up to the 90s. I ended up buying a few things, a copy of “Majala Al Kuwait” from 1975, two 8-track tapes, the old TV guide and most importantly, a 7-inch vinyl record for the song “Haydoo – Our Camel, Lovely Camel”. If you aren’t familiar with the history of this song, I posted about it back in 2006 and its still an interesting read today. Here is the [Post]
Off of my head I think there are around 8 shops located in that basement all of which sell old memorabilia. There is one store that specializes in old records and another in old coins and rare bank notes, but most sell stuff you grew up with as a kid. In between all this randomness you’ll also find some super odd things like Nazi memorabilia.
The opening hours of the shops are pretty random since from my experience the owners are rarely there. But the building caretaker has the keys and will let you in if the shops are closed. If you find something you like he can take a photo and whatsapp it to the owner to get you a price but it also makes haggling more difficult. If you’re interested in checking these places out, the shops are located in the basement of a corner building near Marina Mall. The ground floor has shops that sell hair products but the basement is all antique stores. Here is the location on [Google Maps]
Post by Mark
Off Road Performance (ORP) is a 4×4 aftermarket parts specialist that’s located right here in Kuwait. They are my go-to place whenever I need to upgrade anything in my FJ Cruiser and I’ve been using them ever since I found out about them back in 2010. They carry a bunch of popular 4×4 brands like FOX, Warn, Teraflex, KC Hilites, Bushwacker, Fabtech, Mickey Thompson and a lot more.
A couple of weeks ago, ORP launched an online shop which I found out about over the weekend and I’m in love with it. I also hate it a bit since I’m now worried I’m going to be on the website all the time looking for items to buy.
The website is clean looking and easy to flip through but my favorite aspect of it is that once you choose one of the sections (pictured above), you can then choose your car from a dropdown menu and the website will only show you parts that are compatible with your car. This small feature makes flipping through all the items a lot more efficient.
I’m so glad they setup a full fledged online store instead of going with the easier route of just turning their instagram account into a shop which is what a lot businesses tend to do. So if you’ve got a 4×4 and are looking for parts for it, check out their website [orp.com.kw]
Post by Mark
If you’re a PostaPlus MyBox user then here’s two pieces of good news:
1) They now have an iPhone app that will allow you to track your packages without having to log in every time to the app
2) You can now pay for your packages online (website and app)
The online payment is what I’m the most excited about since they’ve been promising it for a few years now. I hate carrying cash and if I’m not in the office when the delivery guy comes, it always meant someone else had to pay for the package on my behalf. Now at least I can get the payment sorted and just have the delivery guy drop off the package.
If you’re interested in downloading the app, here is the [Link]
Post by Mark
Pick opened up in Al Hamra Tower last week and I personally think this is their best location yet due to the amount of people who work in the tower. Currently there seems to be a queue all day long during office working hours but I overheard they’re getting a second cashier to cope with the high demand.
A standalone Adidas Originals also opened up in the basement of Al Hamra. Previously Adidas Originals was part of the regular Adidas store in the basement, but that location got shut down and they opened up this new Adidas Originals shop next to the old one. The mall is finally turning into a much more interesting place, even WH Smith Bookshop is opening up in the basement.
Post by Mark
I currently mostly use Aramex’s Shop & Ship service as well as Posta Plus’s MyBox when ordering items online from abroad. I tend to use Posta Plus for all my US and UK shopping and Shop & Ship for all the other countries. The reason I use Posta Plus for my US and UK shopping is because its cheaper than Shop & Ship and just as fast. How much cheaper? Generally not that much, but recently me and my brother ordered the exact same item, a Nintendo Switch case from Waterfield and decided to compare the difference in shipping cost. He shipped the case to his Shop & Ship mailbox while I shipped it to my Posta Plus mailbox. So how much did we each pay for the exact same item?
Aramex: KD 8.4
PostaPlus: KD 3.5
That’s a pretty huge difference, more than double actually. Aramex for some reason listed the weight of the shipment at 0.52KG which automatically means the package gets charged as if its 1KG since it exceeded 0.5KG, while PostaPlus on the other hand have the package listed at under 0.5KG (400g) since the actual weight of the case is just 0.21KG. Ouch.
Post by Mark
A couple of years back I put together a list of local online shopping stores and ever since I’ve been quietly updating it. But now it got to the point where I also felt I needed to organize the list properly which is why I decided to create a new updated list.
Below are all the local online shopping websites I am aware of. If there are any missing let me know in the comments, the websites have to be based in Kuwait and allow you to purchase items directly from it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Post by Mark
Sultan Center have finally launched their online shop so you can order your groceries online and have them deliver it to your home. Their delivery charges aren’t that bad either:
The minimum order value is 10KD per order Charges: Delivery charges differs with respect to the type of delivery whether express or next day delivery. Express delivery: We charge 1.5 KD for the express delivery, if the order is 40KD or above the delivery will be free. Next day delivery: This delivery is Free of charge.
I live right next to like four Sultan Centers so I’ll always prefer to stop by my local branch but I’ll definitely start checking their website whenever there is an item I can’t find. Actually, maybe you guys can help, right now I’m having trouble finding Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Light which seems to be out of stock everywhere. It’s delicious hot chocolate and just 25 calories!
Anyway, their website is still in beta so there might be a few issues here and there but you can check it out right now by visiting [sultan-center.com]
Post by Mark
Last year I posted about how Edfa3ly were the cheapest way to ship lightweight items from the States. Well that no longer is the case, seems they’ve made some major changes one of which being that they now charge KD2.5 per 1/2kg. In comparison, PostaPlus charge KD2.5 for the first 1/2kg but then charge KD2 for the extra 1/2kg’s which makes Edfa3ly now more expensive than PostaPlus. Thats not even including the Edfa3ly service fee of 1%. So I’ve updated my original post to highlight these new changes. It was good while it lasted.
Post by Mark
Last month I posted a complaint about how my past few shipments with PostaPlus had taken twice as long to arrive than usual. While previously packages would take around a week to get delivered to Kuwait after arriving to my US mailbox, my past three shipments had taken 11, 13 and 21 days. But things are back to normal now since I received two packages since that post, one had taken 6 days from my US mailbox to my door, the other 7.
During that time I was in contact with PostaPlus who investigated the delays and they sent me the explanation below:
1. Weather conditions: Europe (Our transit HUB) has experienced bad weather conditions that had caused flights to be cancelled.
2. Change in customs management structure, if you recall there was a big situation going on and has caused some key people to be removed, henceforth situation was unstable and extra security has been added on shipments.
So everything is back to normal, now if they can only hurry up an implement Knet payments everything would be perfect.
Post by Mark
None of the shipping companies are consistent so every few months I like to check and see which one of them is currently performing better.
I’ve been using MyBox exclusively for the past few months and they’ve been so slow that I might end up moving back to Shop & Ship if they’re doing better. Some examples of my recent shipments:
MacBook Pro (21 Days)
– Arrived to MyBox on December 14th
– Delivered to me in Kuwait on January 4th
Sneakers (11 Days)
– Arrived to MyBox on December 28th
– Delivered to me in Kuwait on January 8th
Laptop Case (13 Days)
– Arrived to MyBox on January 13th
– Delivered to me in Kuwait on January 26th
So what US mail forwarding company are you guys currently using and whats the average time it taking to get your items delivered to Kuwait from the US?
