The photo above is of the first large Al Mailem showroom which they opened back in 1971. Al Mailem if you aren’t aware are one of the largest retailers of tires in Kuwait and they have a whole bunch of locations up and down Canada Dry st.
I’ve actually been trying to find old photos of Canada Dry street from the 60s and 70s but can’t seem to find any and not sure where to look anymore. But, I just thought of an idea while typing this post up of trying and putting together a post with old photos of car dealerships similar to the photo of the first AlBabtain dealership pictured above. If you work at any of the car dealerships in Kuwait please email me!
I remember a time when people were complaining about the lack of bookshops in Kuwait, well things have changed drastically. Below is a list of all the English bookshops I’m aware of in Kuwait. If I missed any let me know in the comments.
I recently found out about a really good Iraqi kebab restaurant in Salmiya which I decided to try out. Iraqi kebab is different from Persian kebab in that it’s generally not as fatty so you don’t have the same strong aftertaste that stays with you the whole day. It’s lighter which is why I prefer it. The restaurant name roughly translates to the “special (or unique) Iraqi kebab restaurant”, and I think they’ve been open since 2016 since that’s when their Instagram account opened up.
It’s a small little place located in the neighborhood that lies between Restaurant Street and Souk Salmiya. I ordered the normal kebab plate which comes with three skewers, grilled tomato and their freshly baked bread. The kebab meat was tender, tasty and didn’t leave any bad aftertaste. The bread which I think is Egyptian or Egyptian style is baked fresh in store.
Two kebab plates and a side of hummus came out to KD5.750. Due to the pandemic dine-in is closed so you’re either gonna have to eat it while it’s nice and hot in the car, or do takeaway. Their Instagram account is @kabab_iraki and here is their location on Google Maps.
KDD just published their Ramadan commercial called “We Love KDD” and I think it’s great (you’re always gonna win me over with nostalgia). If you’re living in the US and want to order KDD Chocolate Milk, check out my previous post here.
Recently I started having lower back pain and after visiting the doctor I decided based on his recommendation to work on improving my posture, mostly when sitting in front of the computer. Like most people, I tend to hunch over the computer and I wanted to stop doing that so the first thing I did was get a posture corrector strap. A posture corrector strap kinda looks like a gun holster you see detectives wear on TV shows under their suits, just minus the gun. Although it did its job in keeping me from slouching, it wasn’t comfortable to wear for long periods, and depending on what you’re wearing, it could be visible.
I then found out about the Upright GO 2 through a friend of mine, a tiny device you stick to your back and monitors your posture. Whenever you start slouching it buzzes. My friend recommended it so I ended up ordering one for myself.
The Upright GO is super easy to set up. All you need to do is attach it to your back and then connect to it via Bluetooth and an app on your phone. You then sit or stand upright and hit the calibrate button in the app and that’s it, you’re set. It takes around a second or two but once the device calibrates it starts recognizing your movement when you slouch or hunch over. Anytime you exceed a certain angle threshold for more than a few seconds, the device buzzes gently to make you aware that hey, you’re hunching over.
The device is really tiny which is why I used my AirPods for scale in these photos. It’s also very lightweight and so whenever I stick it on my back I can’t tell it’s even there. The reusable adhesive on the back of the device uses a medical-grade sticky silicon, and in my case, it lasts for 7 days. After the 7th day, it no longer is as sticky and I swap the adhesive with a new one. The device came with 10 adhesives so it should be good enough for nearly 3 months of use since I don’t wear it on weekends.
Does it work? Yes, it does!
After using it now for two weeks I noticed my posture has improved. Not only that but because I hate the buzzing so much, even when I’m not wearing the Upright GO I still have the fear it will buzz. There is a bit of PTSD involved because even when I’m not wearing the unit, out of habit I expect my back to buzz anytime I hunch over. So I’ve mentally started recognizing when I start to hunch over and right away straighten up.
The Upright with the help of the app tracks your posture throughout the day and in my case, I recognized I am worse when I’m at the office. When I’m home on my computer I have a very ergonomic TOM chair that offers great back support and keeps me sitting up straight. When I’m at the office I sit on a regular chair with no back support so I tend to slouch and hunch over my laptop. But looking at my data over the past couple of weeks I can see that I have improved overall.
There are two versions of the Upright GO, the original version which is larger, has a shorter battery life and cheaper, and the Upright GO 2 which has a longer battery life, is much smaller but also slightly more expensive. I bought the Upright GO 2 for $99 from Amazon but I noticed it’s now selling for $79 and I’ve even seen it as low as $69. An extra pack of adhesives costs $9. If you don’t want to stick it on your back there is a necklace you can buy that attaches to the Upright GO but I haven’t tried it. The Upright comes with a small case that holds an extra adhesive and it’s where you are meant to put the unit when you’re not wearing it. Battery life on the Upright GO 2 is 35 hours so I only charge it once every few days.
The Upright is not something I’d wear for more than a couple of months at a time, it’s a behavioral training device and as I get the hang of not hunching over I’ll stop wearing it. When I see myself starting to hunch over again I’ll star wearing it again. If you want to get one, here is the link to Amazon.
For those of you who didn’t know this, the first school I went to was called Sunshine School back in the 80s. It only went up to primary and my class was the last one to graduate from it back in 1990, just a couple of months before the Iraqi invasion in August. I still have a lot of photos from back when I was in Sunshine School and over the years I’ve been scanning them then sharing them on the blog.
In 1993, Sunshine School reopened as the British School of Kuwait and a couple of years ago (early 2019) I got approached by them asking me if I had more photos I could scan and share. They were working on an anniversary book and the school themselves didn’t have any pictures from the 80s and so were getting in touch with old students to see if they had any. That gave me a good reason to have all my school photos mailed to me by my sister in Lebanon which is why I ended up scanning so many and uploading them online back in 2019.
It took a while but the anniversary book finally got published and I got my copy a few weeks ago. The book was designed and printed in the UK and is really beautifully done. I’ve got a large spread in the book (pictured above) and although the section on BSK pre-invasion isn’t that large, it was great seeing the other photos they had of the school including the staff photo pictured below. I recognize so many of my teachers in it, I kinda wish I knew where they all are now or what they did after they left Kuwait.
Even though I got my copy of the book a while back I didn’t want to post about it until the book went on sale and it just did a few days ago. If you were a Sunshine School student or BSK student, they have a limited number of copies for sale. They’re priced at KD30 each and contain nearly 200 pages of photos, writeups and information on the school. They deliver internationally as well. The book is really well designed and it’s a hardcover so will look great on your bookshelf. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy then click here.
Every year the Palestinian Cultural Center holds an exhibition with a lot of handicraft and embroidery available to purchase. But, due to the pandemic that’s been put on hold and this year instead of an exhibition, there will be a four-day shop (a pop-up).
The Palestinian Culture Center aims to support needy families and preserve the rich and vibrant culture of Palestine. It does this by encouraging ladies to continue a beautiful handicraft, embroidery, which has been in Palestine for hundreds of years and ensuring that the tradition is carried on to the younger generation.
The Center has been in operation since the early 1970’s in Kuwait and then moved to Jordan after 1990. Today, the PCC, has over 450 women from the Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan working on these beautiful pieces. For these women, the payment they receive is a great support for their families. The PCC also aims at supporting education and helps various schools and education programs in Palestine as well as needy families.
As a charity organization we use a simple rule in all our pricing. Thirty-three percent of the sale cost of an item is given to the woman that produces the work, thirty-three percent goes towards covering the cost of the item, and the remaining amount is distributed to schools, orphanages and needy families mostly in Palestine.
So if you’re looking for something to do during the day, the pop-up runs from today until Wedneday. For more info check out the Palestinian Culture Center Instagram account @palestiniancc
Since live markets are still not allowed, the popular craft market is back again virtually. This weekend, the Spring Craft Market will take place virtually with all the vendors offering a 10% discount.
Each vendor has also paid a small fee to take part in this market which has been donated to ‘Operation HOPE’ who are continuing their great work helping the less fortunate in our community, even more so now as a lot of people are impacted by the covid situation. You can find out more about Operation HOPE by visiting their Facebook page.
So how does a virtual market work? Simple, all the vendors taking part in the Spring Craft Market are listed on the market’s Instagram account @the_craft_market_kuwait. Scroll through the account and when you find an offering you like, say books or paintings, click through to that vendor’s account. Then you just find something you like and leave a comment or DM the vendor telling them you want it.
As a lot of the items are hand-crafted and one-off unique pieces, once they’re gone they’re gone. Please support your local artists, crafters, and small businesses and check out the market this weekend, it’s taking place tomorrow and Saturday. Here is the link again @the_craft_market_kuwait
The other day I posted a video tour of the new Terminal 2 airport. Well in case you wanted to know how our airport looked like back in the 60s, the video above shows a passenger arriving and leaving the airport back in 1965.
I believe the airport in the video above was the original one located in Nuzha. You can check out photos of that airport in my previous post here.
I’m very routine-oriented so every year when my car registration expires I take it to the same traffic department in Jabriya and go through their long clumsy process to get the papers renewed. What is the process? First I have to go to an insurance office to renew my insurance. Then I then need to head to the traffic department in the morning, wait in a long line for my car to get checked. If it passes I then need to find a place to park my car so I can go to a small office in a shack to get my papers stamped. Once that is done I then need to leave and come back in the afternoon and head to the super busy main traffic department building (the mornings are only for Kuwaitis) and buy a stamp and then submit my papers to have the registration booklet printed. If I have a fine I’ll have to get my papers back and head to the fine payment section upstairs, wait in a long line and then head back down and submit my papers again. A very complicated and inefficient process.
But years ago private car inspection centers started popping up but I never thought to try them out until now. Due to Covid and not wanting to deal with large crowds, I decided to try a private center and all I can say is WTF, I can’t believe it took me this look to go the private route!
I just renewed two of my cars last month and the process couldn’t have been easier. I went to a place in Al-Rai called Super Service and both times I was in and out in under 30 minutes. The first thing you need to do is drive your car into the center and leave it running. You then head inside and give your registration booklet to the receptionist who photocopies it and then tells you to hand over your documents to one of their employees at a counter. That employee will fill in all the paperwork, renew your insurance, and also let you know if you have any fines to pay. You then pay for everything (fines included) using Knet and go sit down and wait. 10-15 minutes later your car is done getting checked and your new registration is printed and you get in your car and leave.
That’s it!!
I paid KD29 to renew my paperwork which is very reasonable considering how fast, smooth and anxiety-free the process was. There is no way I’m ever going back to renewing my car registration the old-fashioned way at the traffic department, not unless I have to. There are a number of private inspection centers but if you want to visit the one I went to, here is their location on Google Maps.
So two things here. Firstly I wasn’t aware that we had Skoda in Kuwait, or maybe I was aware but because it’s such an unexciting brand I might have forgotten about it.
The main story though is that Behbehani who are the VW and Porsche dealers just announced that they’ve acquired the Skoda brand which makes sense since Skoda is part of the VW Group. The brand previously was with Fouad Alghanim & Sons Automotive (@skodakuwait), the same dealers as Audi and Lamborghini (which also fall under the VW Group).
Skoda is considered to be a cheaper alternative to Volkswagon. The cars are made in the Czech Republic, China, Russia, India and Slovakia so producing them is cheaper due to lower labor costs. As I already mentioned, I personally don’t find their cars to be exciting, but anyone looking at Skoda’s is probably doing so because of value and not looks. If you’re interested, the Skoda Behbehani Instagram account is simply @skodabehbehani
It looks like Saveco has taken over the Q Electronics location in Shuwaikh across the street from Mayar Complex. Q Electronics (technically called Q By Al Yaqout) opened up towards the end of 2017 and then shut down shortly after in 2019. The location was pretty big so it makes sense for a supermarket but this looks to be a new concept by Saveco since they’ve called it “the urban market”.
My guess is they’re going to be a bunch of smaller stores in this big store, kinda like a street market but indoors. There is no mention of it yet on their Instagram account and I’ve reached out to them for more info but still waiting for a reply.
Update: Saveco got back to me with the following:
Saveco Urban market will provide a first of its kind supermarket experience in kuwait, a sensational trip of taste and sights. Everyday shopping will be an exhilarating and gastronomical experience through a variety of live hubs, all whilst maintaining a high level of supermarket customers need everyday.
Basically what I understood is it’s going to be another Saveco but just looks a bit more premium.
This is a post for google since I know a lot of people want to powder coat or electroplate parts but don’t know where to go. I found out about a place in Shuwaikh that offers these services when I wanted to powder coat my wheels, but they also zinc-plated all the nuts and bolts for my 240Z that I’m restoring and I might be getting my 240Z metal bumpers re-chromed by them. The place is called Anmar Advanced Services but they’re on Instagram as @pcoatkw and @tankelkw.
The services they offer are:
Zinc-Plating
Tin-Plating
Nickle-Chrome Plating
Powder Coating
Sand Blasting
I don’t have all their prices since it depends on various factors like size and quantity, but for powder coating car wheels for example they charge KD90 for 4. I think I also paid 35KD to galvanize (zinc-plate) all the nuts and bolts of my 240Z but I can’t find the bill. If you’re interested in any of their services, here is their location on Google Maps (they’re in the back left corner of that street). You can also get in touch with the engineer, his name is Maher and his number is 66475000 DM them on Instagram @pcoatkw and @tankelkw
The Al Seif strip had cool colorful stairs covered with graffiti on both sides and it had a lot of character. It was a bit gritty but it was real and people used to go and take photos in front of the walls and it was one of those “instagrammable” spots. Then one day someone decided that the stairs needed renovating and they ended up painting over all the graffiti and turning it into normal boring stairs again with white walls covered with black splatters. It looked terrible.
But, the colors are now coming back because the walls are currently being repainted again by the artist @oat.here. They’re still not finished but it already looks 100x better as you can see in the photo above.
The video above is the most detailed tour of the new airport Terminal 2 so far. It was shot earlier this month and the engineer in the video takes us through all the different important areas of the airport showing the current status. According to the video the terminal is meant to be completed in August 2022 which I find hard to believe based on the progress shown. But, they do mention that although the airport construction is going at full force, due to covid some of their suppliers aren’t working at 100% and so that might end up causing delays.
In any case, right now I miss traveling so much that I don’t mind our old airport, so they can take their time with T2 as long as we get to fly out again soon from any of our airports. To stay posted on the progress of the airport you can follow @t2.engineers on instagram.
