Category: Shopping

Yeah its a long name but it helps with the geek factor. I’ve been wanting the Oral B Triumph for some time now but the local dealer never got the one I wanted which comes with the Smart Guide.

What is the Smart Guide? The Smart Guide is the little device that’s pictured above. Your toothbrush connects to it wirelessly and transmits various information about your brushing technique to help you brush properly while also making it more fun. First off it tells you how much time to spend on each quadrant of your teeth before shifting to the next one. It also tells you if you’re applying the right amount of pressure onto your teeth or gums by flashing a warning when it thinks you’re being too rough. Finally and most importantly, when you are done brushing correctly you get a smiley face on the Smart Guide as a reward. The live feedback system while brushing made me want the Triumph since I like information even if its coming from a toothbrush.

The price of the regular Triumph is KD42 in Kuwait after discount but it DOESN’T come with the Smart Guide. On Amazon the Triumph WITH the Smart Guide is for only KD34. I picked up the KD50 special edition version which comes with 2 tooth brushes and 2 Smart Guides, one for me and one for Nat which saved me a bundle. Will post a more in depth review once I get to use it for awhile.

Oral B Triumph 9900 Toothbrush with Smart Guide KD34 [Amazon]
Oral-B Triumph 9950 2 handle pack with 2 Smart Guides KD51 [Amazon]

Sultan Center now has Red Bull cola but as I’ve mentioned before, it tastes like crap. It costs 390 fils which you could use instead to buy a shani, KDD Silver ice cream and a Sunkist.

I know this topic might sound strange but bear with me since I did find something interesting about balsamic vinegar that made it post worthy.

I became a fan of balsamic vinegar last year when I tried one that was aged 30 years at an Italian restaurant in Munich. So today while at Dean & Deluca I thought I would “splurge” 8 or 12 dinars on some decent balsamic vinegar. While checking out the bottles a salesman came over and told me about a 100 year old aged Acetaia Leonardi balsamic vinegar. I thought that was very interesting so he showed me the bottle and told me they produced only 200 of those bottles and 4 (actually 3 since one got sold already) bottles were available in Kuwait. Now I figured the bottle would be expensive but not THIS expensive. Turns out the bottle was “slightly” out of my budget costing KD190! The salesman told me they could order a bottle that was 300 years old at a cost of get this… KD2,500!

Although I wouldn’t pay KD2,500 or KD190 for balsamic vinegar (or any other consumable product (ok maybe for a burger)) I do appreciate having the choice and that’s what I like about Dean & Deluca and the over priced imported stuff at Sultan Center. I would rather have the choice and choose not to than not have the choice at all.

Here is a link to an interesting review of Acetaia Leonardi balsamic vinegars. [Link]

I just tried the Pepsi RAW and it didn’t taste that bad although I wouldn’t have it again. Pepsi RAW is like regular Pepsi except its made with all natural ingredients and free from artificial flavoring, colorings, preservatives and sweeteners. I found it at Sultan Center for 490fils and it tastes much better than RedBull Cola.

Found this at Sultan Center, its a copy of the Nintendo Wii called except its called swii. It costs around KD9 ($30) and comes with a wireless controller which looks like the wii controller except with a plastic tennis racket at the end. I think the device also plays only one game which is a tennis game with Super Nintendo like graphics. They had a working model on display so I tried the tennis game and it pretty much sucked as you can imagine.

Was picking up a computer from Carrefour when I spotted this cheap laptop which seemed like a steal. The specs are: Intel Celeron 2.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 14″ screen, wifi, webcam and a DVD writer. The laptop comes with no operating system and they’re selling it for KD129.500.

Just spotted an ad for British Airways on the BBC website. They’ve got a sale on business class tickets and they’re the lowest I’ve seen them. Tickets to London are for KD453 while tickets to Europe go for KD503 and tickets to North America for KD766. [Link]

Just found this local online shop that carries some cool Grendizer and Sanshiro figurines and I am already regretting it since I now want to buy a whole bunch of things. The prices seem pretty reasonable which is making my life difficult. I must resist! [Link]

I don’t know how many of you remember Mogahwi or even know what it is so I figured I would post about them. Mogahwi I believe is one of the best if not the best stationary and art supply store in Kuwait. They’ve been around in Kuwait since 1940 but the Salmiya branch which I’ve been visiting since I was a kid I think has been around for 30 years but not really sure. The place hasn’t changed much since they first opened, I think they still even use the same bags. They’ve got everything there from the regular stuff like pens and papers to the more interesting stuff located in the basement which is the art supplies. I’ve taken a few shots of the place which you can see below. I don’t think they get as many customers as they used to back in the 80s and 90s so I hope they don’t close down. They’re located in the old Salmiya near Alghanim Electronics.

A friend of mine at the office just bought a BlackBerry Curve 8900 from Carrefour for KD120. Comes with a QWERTY keyboard even!

Update: The actual price is KD127.750 and they were out of stock today (May 16) but they told me they would be getting some more tomorrow.

Lola et moi emailed me to tell me that Discovery Mall has now officially opened. The mall is located next to the ice skating ring rink in Kuwait City and caters to kids. One thing I don’t like about the place is the fact there are only three restaurants and they are Nathan’s, KFC and Chili’s. With obesity being such a major issue here in Kuwait you would think that the restaurants at a kids mall would be more healthy. The picture above is from the new Lola et moi store at Discovery but if you want to see pictures of the mall check out the Kuwait Black Market blog by clicking [Here]

I’ve been having such an incredible lucky streak with mangoes recently. The last two boxes I got from Sultan Center turned out to be INCREDIBLE but tonight I might have discovered the “ultimate” mangoes. A friend of mine dropped off a fresh box of Indian Alphonso Mangoes and I just had some… wow they just melted in my mouth. Turns out a friend of his imports these premium mangoes directly from India and has a delivery service here in Kuwait. Its called “Gourmet Mangoes” and you just call them up and order a box of mangoes and get them delivered to you.

They’ve got two kinds of mangoes, a box of regular sized ones is for KD8 while the jumbo sized mangoes are for KD9. That’s just slightly more expensive than Sultan Center which go for KD7.450 and these guys deliver so its worth trying out.

If you’re interested contact them on 99880008

THE One has a pretty cool customer feedback system. Right next to the cashier there is a little device with buttons and statements like “The service was fast and efficient” and “I found the staff knowledgeable” etc.. and answers right next to them like “Absolutely” or “Sort of” or “Not really” etc… While waiting to pay for your item you can just give your feedback on your experience in a process that takes only a few seconds. No need to give your name, number, birthday, time of visit and all that other crap. I think more stores need to implement this very easy to use system since its a quick process and more fun than filling a card with 20 questions.

There was a website address on the machine www.cfs-me.net which takes you to the dealers of the device. On the site they have more pictures and information regarding this system. Pretty cool.

I was checking the blog 4th Ring Road today when I spotted their post on the new Electrozan offer so I decided to pass by them and pick up a BlackBerry Curve for Nat. When I got to the Electrozan showroom I found out the BlackBerry’s were sold out already. The employee told me they will be getting more tomorrow afternoon but I also found out why the Curve’s were being sold for cheap… they are T-Mobile branded. That automatically turned what sounded like a really good deal into a bad deal. Let me explain:

– An unlocked unbranded BlackBerry Curve costs KD135 on Amazon [Link]. With shipping to Kuwait via Aramex the total would amount to KD142. Sorry this was for the QWERTZ keyboard.

– An unlocked unbranded BlackBerry Curve costs KD145 on Amazon [Link]. After tax and shipping to Kuwait via Aramex the total would amount to KD165.

– Now on the other hand a new unlocked T-Mobile branded BlackBerry Curve from eBay costs KD124 [Link]. With shipping to Kuwait via Aramex the total would amount to KD129 which is KD30 cheaper than Electrozan.

So to summarize things, its still a much better deal to order a BlackBerry Curve online since a saving of KD30 is a pretty big chunk.

Update: Just picked up a Curve from Electrozan for Nat. Paypal locked up my account because I logged in and paid for something through my VPN and they assumed someone else got into my account. So now I can’t use eBay for awhile. The BlackBerry is T-Mobile branded and comes with T-Mobile literature. Employee said its officially unlocked so I can do the software updates. Comes with 6 months warranty so it will be interesting to see what exactly that means if something does go wrong from now to 6 months time. They’re out of Bolds at the moment.

Update 2: The Curve’s sold at Electrozan are from T-Mobile Germany which means the keyboard is a QWERTZ and not the regular QWERTY. Simply put, the locations of the letters Z and Y are swapped.

Last month while browsing the web I landed on a website which spoke about some cool solar powered lights that Ikea was going to introduce into the market. To my surprise, while shopping today at Ikea I spotted the lights! They had the whole collection and the most expensive one (pictured below) was for around KD6 and that was because the set contained five light sticks. That’s pretty cool and cheap!