Category: Shopping

Marks & Spencer in Kuwait is pretty strange. Its been open for a really long time and they seem to be doing pretty well but they’ve yet to open up in a popular mall. I usually pass by Marks & Spencer for their food section, they’ve got a ton of munchies and random items like jams, salad dressings and cornflakes. Their food packaging is also beautifully designed so I just buy random stuff because they look good. If you haven’t been to Marks & Spencer its worth checking out, they’re located right next to Marina Mall, I am not sure they have another branch elsewhere.

Anyone remember Nintendo’s Game & Watch? I’m a huge fan of them and since its really easy to buy stuff from eBay now because of PayPal, I think I am going to get a few. Excellent condition ones cost over a $100 and brand new ones cost even more. Makes me wish I had kept mine when I was a kid.

Update: The current bid for an excellent condition LifeBoat Game & Watch is $399 with 11 bids and 2 days still to go! [Link]

Update 2: Ok, it seems this is the second time I am going through a Game&Watch phase. Found a previous post of mine on the subject. It reminded me though, I still need a boxed SIMON game and a boxed Speak & Spell! [Link]

Ever since PayPal started working with Kuwait based credit cards I haven’t really used it even though I signed up for it and everything… until now that is. I just purchased an item from eBay and I paid using PayPal for the first time and the process was incredibly easy. Before when I used to buy stuff from eBay I had to go through the hassle of sending a money order to the seller. Now payment is instant using my credit card, it felt as if I was buying something from Amazon. Hopefully I won’t start buying random junk from eBay.. [Link]

I just found out about a new online electronics store called Feeezo. They don’t have a very large collection of electronics but if this is just the beginning then the idea sounds promising. The website looks like crap, and I think most of the items are from Alghanim except Feeezo is more expensive. But, its a nice idea which I think Alghanim should implement themselves. [Link]

Thanks Rakan!

I was at Alghanim today and saw this portable Humax satellite dish. It comes with a 17inch screen on the front and the dish mounted on the back. You just setup the tv/dish anywhere and point it in the right direction using the built in compass and thats it, live satellite TV where ever you are. Costs around KD300.

I just found out today that CAMPER is open at The Avenues. Its been open for a month now but due to the fact its in a very concealed location I didn’t find out about it until now. I passed by it and was disappointed to see such a poor collection of mens shoes. Most of the popular models weren’t available and according to the salesman they won’t be getting any more models for the time being. CAMPER is located in Avenues Phase 2, under the new food court, right under the new Johnny Rockets that opened there.

I found out about this cool trick from SomeContrast back in February and its made my shopping experience on Amazon much more convenient. There is a script that works with FireFox that converts the prices on Amazon from US Dollars to Kuwaiti Dinars and then displays it for you right next to the original price. That saves you the hassle of trying to calculate how much an item costs in Dinars every time you find something.

I got the instructions for installing the script also from SomeContrast. Make sure you are using FireFox then do the following:

1) Install Greasemonkey
2) Install Amazon Local Currency Script

By default it will convert US Dollars to Israeli Shekels… you need to change that from the menu to Kuwaiti Dinars by entering the initials KWD. And thats it, pretty simple but practical.

Thanks SomeContrast!

Aramex Shop&Ship are following in the foot steps of USWS and are going to start accepting online payments. A few people recently got the following email from Aramex:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for using our SHOP&SHIP service. Our aim is to continuously enhance your shopping experience with us. We are about to launch a new feature on www.aramex.com which would allow you to make online payments for your shipping charges. We would like to offer this feature first to our VIP clients in order to eliminate delays in delivery due to cash unavailability. We hope that this new feature will be to your satisfaction, and we welcome your feedback on the service. We want to assure you that our most important objective is to continue providing you with quality transportation services that meet your needs effectively.

Sincerely,
SHOP&SHIP Customer Account Manager

Since the delivery guys started carrying Knet machines online payment isn’t that important anymore. Personally I would like to see their payment system upgraded where as one user mentioned, instead of charging per half KG they should start charging per 100grams. That way their recent price increase will seem more reasonable.

Thanks K!

I enjoy photography a lot and I have a whole range of cameras each serving a different purpose. The problem with most of my cameras is that they are just too big to carry around all the time. While in Munich although I had a lot of fun shooting with my old Nikon FE the fact remains it weighed a ton and I had to carry it around in a shoulder bag.

I currently have two small point & shoot cameras but they’re pretty outdated. I have a cheap Canon A530 camera which I keep in the car and then I have a Sony N1 which I am currently taking when I’m traveling. Problem with the two is that A530 doesn’t fit into my pocket and the Sony N1 doesn’t do well in dim lit situations. Thats why I’ve decided to search for a replacement. What I would like to have in my perfect camera is the following:

– Small size
– 6MP and up
– Bright lens
– RAW capabilities
– Great battery life
– Great image quality
– Great high iso performance
– Camera controls on top (like SLR’s)
– Character
– Metal body
– Needs to look good
– No budget (ok not Leica M8 budget)

If I was going to get a large DSLR camera I would get the Nikon D300 in a heart beat. Its a very easy decision since there aren’t that many high end DSLR’s to choose from. With a point & shoot camera its a different story, there are like a hundred different cameras to decide from and each has a different advantage. I’ve been doing a lot of research the past few days and so far the following are the cameras I am deciding between:

Canon G9
Great camera, shoots RAW, solid build but has decent high iso performance and I don’t think the camera fits into my pocket so it kinda kills the point.

Ricoh GX100
Its got a retro look, very solid build, shoots RAW, bright lens and great image quality. Problem is RAW shots take 5 seconds to save and has poor high iso performance which is a killer for me.

Sigma DP-1
This camera also has a retro look and also has a solid build. It uses the same image sensor as larger DSLR’s which means the image quality is fantastic. It has great high iso performance but the camera costs more than double the price of all the other cameras I am checking out and it only has a fixed 28mm lens which although I am a fan of isn’t really practical for my purpose.

Fuji Finepix F100fd
Not really a Fuji fan but this camera has excellent low light capabilities. Iso goes up to 3200 and the 1600 iso is pretty usable judging by the pictures online. But, I think this camera is really ugly, lacks character and many people have complained about its interface.

Sony W300
This camera and the next one below are fairly conservative choices. The W300 is a great size, looks good and has a durable black titanium body. It also has a pretty decent high iso performance and was the camera I was going to get except for the fact many users have complained about poor image quality.

Nikon S600
The cheapest camera from the bunch. Has excellent image quality, great size and looks plus a very fast start up time. Main problem with this camera is the shutter lag and no manual option.

Which camera am I going to go with? I have no clue at the moment. Its a tough choice and each camera has its advantage, I will probably do a bit more research and then decide what to get but so far I think I am leaning towards the Ricoh GX100. Once I decide I will post again here.

Update: Ok, the Ricoh GX100 which I had my mind set on will NOT fit into a jeans pocket [Picture]. I thought it was smaller than that. So now the G9, GX100 and Sigma DP1 are out of the picture. The Ricoh though looks like a great camera made for photographers. I was flipping through pictures taken by the GX100 on Flickr and all the pictures feel very film like. [Flickr Pictures]

Animal Care is a local online pet shop that sells pet stuff including toys, food and accessories. They even deliver items to your doorstep. I think its a great idea specially since the only place that sells decent stuff is Sultan Center and they always seem to run out of stuff. [Link]

Thanks Rayboy

This is a video presentation of The Mall of Kuwait which is currently being built. Judging by the video it looks pretty big but the most impressive thing has to be the 750 seat performance hall. The mall was originally scheduled to open this year but I don’t know if thats still the target time. [YouTube]

I just got an email from Aramex regarding their new prices for Shop&Ship. Starting July 1st the new prices are as follows:

First ½ kg K.D. 3.000
Each additional ½ kg K.D. 2.500

Thats nearly a 25% increase! I also noticed Aramex launched a new identity with the prices, perfect timing. Welcome to the new revamped and more expensive Aramex… I am sticking to U Shop We Ship for my packages.

Awhile back I wanted to sell my car and decided I would do a little experiment by listing my car on Q8car and also on Q8showroom and see which site ends up getting me a buyer. Well I just sold my car today but I didn’t get to try my Q8car vs Q8showroom experiment.

Thursday my car went up on Q8car and by Friday I had two people call me and pass by to check it out. By Saturday I got two more people call and one more person passed by. Sunday I got a call and the guy told me to meet up with him at Al Reemal Al Dahabi in Shuwaikh which is this huge ass place that checks cars. I think all the tests took around two hours and in the end the potential buyer got a printout with all the positives and negatives in the car. After that it was a done deal and we shook on it.

So as you can see I didn’t even have time to list my car on Q8showroom. Even today while doing the car paperwork with the guy I had a guy call me asking me about the car. Before I placed the car on their website I had read somewhere that if the car isn’t anything too weird it usually sells within three days and I guess thats true.

I paid KD10 to list my car on Q8car and that includes four pictures and the duration is “until its sold”. For KD5 you can list the car for one month and you get to post just one picture.

Last month I read on Memoirs of A Kuwaiti-Chick about a version of KitKat called Senses. Today while I was checking out the chocolate corner in Shamiya supermarket I spotted them and decided to take two to try and now I think I found my new favorite chocolate. The taste is a mixture between KitKat and Kinder’s Bueno which also has a hazelnut cream filled chocolate wafer. Downside is they cost 450fils a bar but its worth it. The chocolate section at Shamiya has a lot of imported stuff which is cool and right next to it there is the gourmet section which also has a ton of stuff not available elsewhere. If you don’t know where Shamiya Coop is its near the Sheraton roundabout and here is it on google maps. [MAP]

Q80-Chill Girl just posted on her blog that she spotted a Moleskine stand at The Sultan Center. Judging by her picture above it looks like they have the city guides, hopefully they also have the plain pocket books and other kinds of Moleskines. Its great someone finally thought about bringing them to Kuwait but whats surprising is a supermarket brought them in instead of say a bookshop or an office supply store. Good move Sultan Center, now if only they can get a larger collection of salami… [Link]