Category: Shopping

I passed by the Panasonic dealer in Salmiya (Easa Husain Al-Yousifi & Sons Co.) and noticed they are selling the Pleo Dinosaur. They’re selling it for KD129 which is around KD50 more expensive than Amazon. If you don’t know what the Pleo Dinosaur is its basically a robot dinosaur that can see, feel and grow (mentally). Its extremely cute and intelligent, if I didn’t think my dog Geo would eat it I would have already gotten one. You can check it out in action on the Pleo website, just click on discover once you get there. [Link]

I am planning to lift my Wrangler and install larger 33″ tires on it. Late last month I got the tires which I expected would be the hardest thing to get until recently I realized getting new black steel wheels are even harder. I wanted either American Racing or Cragar black steel wheels. I found an American Racing dealer in Kuwait but they didn’t have anything I was interested in and if I wanted to place an order for wheels they would only be delivered in August or September. So I decided to check and see what I could find in Dubai, I gave Icon Auto a call and they didn’t have what I wanted either. The only option I had left was to order the wheels from the US and ship them to Kuwait but 5 steel tires would weigh a ton.

Each wheel weighs 12KG and five wheels would mean a total weight of 60KG. Shipping them with Aramex or USWS would cost me around KD200 which is a ridiculous amount to pay specially when my five wheels combined would cost me only KD50. Surprisingly though it turns out its a lot cheaper to have the stuff shipped directly from the supplier in the US to Kuwait. I just ended up ordering five Cragar 342’s (pictured above on the Wrangler) for $215 from Quadratec and shipping them to Kuwait will cost me only $353 with Fed Ex. Thats not really bad at all and I am extremely surprised. Once my wheels get here the third and final thing I need to do is order the lift kit.

Update: Added more pictures of the same rims on other Wranglers which you can check out by clicking on continue.

Today I passed by Abyat to get a sneak peek. They officially open on the 18th but I’ve got a friend who works there and he told me I could pass by any time to check it out. Although the store isn’t 100% complete yet I did leave feeling very impressed. Compared to Alghanim’s Platform, Abyat is exactly 3 times as big and so have a lot more items. I will be going back there for sure once they launch since I found a couple of items I needed. I took a bunch of shots which you can check out below by clicking on continue.

I found this lamp at Sultan Center and its called LivingColors by Philips. The lamp can project light in over 16 million different colors in which you can control by a color wheel on a remote control. It looks really cool but I am still trying to figure out if its worth KD64. You can try it out at Sultan Center, they have a live one on display for you to play with. More information available on the Philips website. [Link]

Here is also a YouTube video of the light in action. [YouTube]

Last month I posted about an offer that Sandisk had where the prices of the products turned out to be cheaper than Amazon. Well they just launched another campaign now with even cheaper prices than before. Check out the latest flyer [Here]

I needed to get a Polaroid camera today so I called all the Ashraf stores in Kuwait who are the Polaroid dealers and non of them had any cameras in stock except for the one in Salmiya who had two. I ended up passing by them and picking it up for KD20. On Amazon the same camera is being sold for KD43.500 so they are basically selling it in Kuwait for less than half the price. If you are interested they have one more in stock, their number is 5731372.

After reading the replies to my edamame post I managed to find edamame at Sultan Center. They were located in the frozen vegetables section and the packet has Japanese writing all over it and costs KD1.695 for a 400g bag. Hopefully I will figure out how long to boil them, the instructions on the back are all in Japanese!

I need to get me one of those. [Link]

Now that I finished with the audio install in my Wrangler the next thing I am going to do is get a lift so I could install 33″ tires. After scouring the Jeep Forum and doing a lot of research I decided to go with the DPG Ultimate Trailgunner Suspension System which is a kit put together by DPG for Jeep Wranglers and consists of a 2.5″ Old Man Emu suspension system combined with DPG springs, a 1.25″ JKS body lift and a bunch of other parts which I need for the Wrangler install like adjustable track bars, quick disconnects and bump stops, etc.. basically all the parts I need to get 33″ tires installed on my Wrangler. You can check it out [Here]

Now as usual I always try to purchase stuff from Kuwait first but also as usual I get put off by the prices. I found the Old Man Emu dealer in Kuwait which is Naser Al-Sayer (Tel: 4747137) but their prices were more than double that of the US. Even with shipping it would be a lot cheaper and more reliable to order the parts from a specialized place like DPG in the States.

So now that I solved my suspension lift issue I have another problem with the tires and wheels. My current setup is 31″ tires with 15×7 wheels, for my 33″ setup I need to get 15×8 wheels and 33×12.5xR15 tires. I found some really nice American Racing wheels (black steelies) for KD16 per wheel but they will cost me an arm and a leg to ship to Kuwait. So I decided to pass by the American Racing dealer in Kuwait who are Silicon Valley Group (Tel: 4826723) to see how much the wheel cost here. The visit was pretty disappointing, they barely had anything in stock, they had nothing that fits the Wrangler and the employee there really had no clue about anything. They are even the local dealers for Mickey Thompson tires yet they only had one model from the size I wanted 33×12.5xR15 and even worse they only had one tire in stock. The guy told me I could place an order for anything I wanted but that it would get here by August/September. Very disappointing.

For tires I wanted BF Goodrich AT/KO but I couldn’t find a local dealer so I started calling other places to see what they had and this is what I found:

Goodyear Wrangler MT/R
33×12.5R15
KD80 per tire (slow shipping, 2 months to arrive)
KD110-120 per tire (fast shipping, 2 weeks to arrive)
Tel: 884737

Mickey Thompson Desert King
33×10.5R15
KD90 (1 tire in stock)
Tel: 4826723

Maxxis MT762 Bighorn
33×12.5R15
KD42
Tel: 4824256

Hankook Dynapro MT RT03
33×12.5R15
KD37 (6 tires in stock)
Tel: 884737

I also tried Dunlop, Toyo and Yokohama but they didn’t have any in stock or in Toyo’s case no one ever answered the phone. I am extremely disappointed with the state of some of the dealerships in Kuwait. Prices are expensive, they don’t have a large stock and ordering stuff with them takes ages. Gives me less and less reason to buy stuff from Kuwait.

Update: A friend gave me a link to a website of shop in Dubai called Icon Auto who sell and install lifts for the Wrangler. Their price is very competitive compared to the US. For example a 2.5″ suspension lift costs $659 in the States, $800 in Dubai and $1100 in Kuwait. How come we don’t have a place like Icon Auto in Kuwait?? [Link]

A friend just passed me this flyer and I can’t believe some of the prices on these products. For example the 8GB Cruzer costs KD14 in Kuwait while on Amazon its selling for KD17.5 [Flyer Scan]

Here are two better shots of the new Alghanim Electronics store that opened up at the Avenues. There were less people there today so it was easier to take the shots.

I just saw the new Alghanim Electronics store at the Avenues and although I am not a big fan of Alghanim Electronics I was actually impressed by the place. The place looks pretty cool and EVERYTHING they have is on display to be played with from phones and cameras to mp3 and portable video players. The new store is located under Cinescape near NBK and IKEA.

Amazon just dropped the price of the Xbox 360 HD DVD player to just $79! Thats really really cheap!! [Amazon Link]

Best Buy Kuwait, the fake Best Buy in Hawalli have the tiny Asus Eee laptops for sale and they are being sold for KD159 which is KD50 more expensive than Amazon. Its really sad how they’ve blatantly copied Best Buy’s logo and name. If it was a crappy shop I could care less but they do actually have a decent collection of stuff so they should also put the effort in coming up with a better name for the place.

Yesterday during my lunch break I passed by the Bosch Power Tools dealer in Shuwaikh to buy a drill. I originally wanted to get the 14.4v cordless drill but ended up going with the 12v because it looked and felt more balanced in my hands. The manager was there which was cool because he was able to give me a good deal on the drill and some drill bits.

While browsing the store I found out they were also the dealers for Dremel. I had only seen Dremel tools at Ace Hardware before so I had assumed Ace was the dealer but turns out that wasn’t the case.

The prices of the products at the dealer here in Kuwait are either cheaper or slightly more expensive then Amazon. I got the Bosch 12v drill (Swiss made not Malaysia) for KD42 while the same drill on Amazon is being sold for KD37 without shipping. The Dremel tool I was interested in sells for KD16 in Kuwait but for KD17 on Amazon without shipping.

Finding the place is easy, if you take the road where City Center, KFH and Mercedes dealer is in Shuwaikh, just take the right hand turn after the KFH branch and head straight down. You should find the Bosch Service Center (for cars) on your left, thats where the Power Tools store is also located.