2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Back in 2011 KDD dropped the old school names and packaging for some of their ice creams and replaced them with the generic Blitz name and packaging. But, it looks like KDD is bringing back the original names and designs again. The KDD app is now showing Failaka, Burgan and Columbia again as well as some other new items like lolly sticks.

I don’t know if this a temporary marketing thing or not but I hope it stays. I also hope they’re not gonna kill off the lolly pyramids and replace them with these new sticks. Also KDD, why did you close down the KDD store near my place in Salmiya??

via @inspirededibles

If you missed my Part 1 post on my home gym build, you can check that post here. For the second part, I wanted to talk about some of the equipment I got, where I got it from, and what options you have for getting the same as well. The pandemic started this home gym craze which has left the market bare of decent gym equipment, and when you do find any available, they tend to be overpriced. The quality of some of the equipment being sold is also questionable with lots of clones and overpriced poor quality hardware being imported by people who are looking to make a quick buck.

For my gym needs all I really needed was weight plates, an Olympic bar, a curl bar, and dumbbells. I managed to get everything except for dumbbells. Not sure what pre-corona prices were for dumbbells, but right now they seem incredibly expensive, at least to me. I can’t just get one set of dumbbells either, I’d have to get a whole range since depending on the exercise I might need anything from 10KG up to 36KG. So for now, I’ve put the thought of getting dumbbells aside unless I want to spend over 700KD which I’m not gonna do.

Weight plates aren’t that difficult to find, but finding a whole set of weights is. I was originally planning to get my plates from ProSports, but they had certain weights out of stock when I first checked which meant for example I could get 20KG plates but couldn’t find maybe 5KG or 10KG. I then decided to get bumper plates from Nomad, but they were out of stock. Gym Doctor? Also out of stock. Nobody had a full set of weight plates and I didn’t want to mix and match different brands or looks since my OCD wouldn’t be able to deal with it. I also needed them to be in KG not Lbs since I’ve only ever used KGs at my gym and didn’t want to change that. At one point I found all the weights I needed on the ProSports website but they were out of stock on the 7ft Olympic bar. I decided to wait until they got the bar in stock, but by then some of the weights were out of stock. Waiting until everything you want is available to order isn’t gonna work.

Eventually, while going through my Instagram explore page I noticed Sports World were selling a Torque brand package that included a full set of colored bumper plates (5KG, 10KG, 15KG, 20KG), a 7ft black Olympic bar and 2 collars all for 392KD. They also had a Torque adjustable bench for 220KD. I also bought extra 2.5KG plates from them. It was around 10PM at night, maybe later and the owner quick responded to my questions on Instagram and I managed to place the order and pay for my items all through Instagram DM. It was an impulse buy but it had to be if I wanted to make sure I got what I wanted before they sold out. The prices might sound expensive, but they’re actually acceptable for what you’re getting. For example, the bumper plate package retail cost is around KD340 in the US (pre-corona) so we’re only paying a slight premium here. What I’ve actually noticed is that the no-brand Chinese stuff is being sold for a pretty high price while the premium brands which have proper dealers in Kuwait kept their prices fairly stable.

So the difference in price between the no-brand clones and premium brand items has narrowed to the point you might as well pay a bit more and just get the premium brands. This price discrepancy is more obvious with things like the adjustable bench. At 220KD I think the bench I got is a steal compared to other benches in the market that cost 150-200KD. The Torque bench is commercial grade and pretty much bombproof and so is gonna withstand all the abuse I give it. But I’ve seen no-brand benches sold for just slightly less that look like they’re gonna start wobbling a week into use. The only thing left that I needed to get was a curl bar and Sports World didn’t have any in stock. I saw one on the Wawan website but they were selling it for 50KD which sounded overpriced. I eventually found one for sale on an Instagram account called @gym__home123 (can it get any more generic?) for 30KD and the guy delivered it the same day so not bad.

I really love the stuff I got, the colorful bumper plates look great and so does the black zinc coated Olympic bar. Since these items were going to be mine and used by me hopefully for a very long time, I wanted to get a proper set of gym equipment and so I’m glad I found these by Torque. I also ended up getting a squat rack to use with all the above but I’m leaving that for the final third post since there is a lot to talk about with that. For now I’ll leave you with a bunch of links below to where you could try and find stuff you need for your own home gym:

Sports World
ProSports
Nomad Strength Co.
Beyond Equipment
Gym Doctor
Perform Athletics
Sports Group
Wawan
@gym__home123

Update: Thanks to a reader ended up finding dumbbells that were priced extremely well, a set from 10KG up to 25KG in 2.5KG increments for just 225KD! Got them from @gymequipmentskwt

Around 7 or 8 years ago I learned how to kiteboard and I’m pretty sure I posted about it but can’t seem to find my old post. In any case, the person I learned with left Kuwait ages ago and so I wanted to post about another place you could learn to kiteboard. Q8 Kite Boarding is a local website that sells kiteboarding gear while also offering lessons. They carry a bunch of brands including Cabrinha, Core, Crazyfly, and Reedin.

Full Program Zero 2 Hero
12 lessons
Lesson duration is 60-75 minutes
Cost: KD280 (KD480 if you don’t have the gear)

Individual lessons are KD25 (45KD if you don’t have the gear)

Since the weather has cooled down, it’s probably a great time to learn to kiteboard. Kiteboarding is also an individual sport so social distancing should be fairly easy. For contact information, visit their website Q8kiteboarding.com

Update: Their Instagram account is @Q8Kiteboarding. Also found out that they were previously called DMBoarding which is the company I learned with. They just renamed now to Q8 Kite Boarding.

The Scientific Center is currently closed because of the pandemic but their gift shop is now online. Weirdly none of their books are available to purchase just some toys and clothing. If you want to check it out, here is the link to their catalog.

To order you need to WhatsApp them on 66305020

Ghazi Al-Mulaifi is a Kuwaiti musician whose brother is Tareq Al-Mulaifi of Cobra Club whom I’ve posted about a few times. Both brothers are super talented and have completely different music styles (like opposites) which is amazing to see. While Tareq is into 80s inspired cinematic synth-pop music, Ghazi on the other hand is interested in Kuwaiti pearl diving music and global jazz. He formed the ensemble Boom Diwan where he and traditional Kuwaiti musicians combine Kuwaiti bahri (sea) music with global jazz for the purpose of creating new Kuwaiti music that revives a musical tradition of dialog and exchange. It’s a bizarre combination but going through their Instagram account it actually seems to work really well.

In the fall of 2018, Ghazi was approached by Bill Bragin who is the executive artistic director at the Arts Center at NYUAD. He was inquiring about six-time grammy award winner Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (Arturo is the son of the late and famed Chico O’Farill). Arturo was looking for musical ties between Afro-Cuba and the Afro-Khaleej and he and Bill visited Kuwait and stayed with Ghazi for a few days. Ghazi invited the members of his ensemble over and that meeting resulted in two Cuban-Khaleeji Project concerts, the first took place in 2019 (video above) while the second took place virtually a few days ago (video below).

It’s all pretty fascinating and I love the fact they’re looking for ways to keep the traditional Kuwaiti pearl diving music alive. If you want to listen to more of Ghazi’s music or if you’re just curious to explore all this further, here are some links:

GhaziMusic.com
KhaleejiMusicAlliance.com
@Boom.Diwan
NYU Abu Dhabi introduces new course on Khaleeji music

A friend just told me about a company called Dustx where they come over and wash your house exterior. Kinda like those home car wash services except for your house. They come over with their truck and powerwash the outside of your building making it look all clean and new again.

Prices vary depending on the size of the building but range from 180-370KD. If you’re interested you could get in touch with them and they’ll over someone to check the house and quote you. Their Instagram account is @dustx.kw

When gyms reopened a couple of weeks back I was still undecided if I’d go back to mine or I’d continue to workout at home. Well, the choice was made easy when I found out my gym was sold to another gym. At first, I considered signing up to Inspire since all my friends go there, but their Bida’a location was closed for renovation and their second location was just too far away. So I decided I might as well just workout from home.

For the past few months I had been working out at home using some basic gym equipment I had rented. I was really limited with my workouts due to the equipment I had on hand, but I was still disciplined enough to work out 3 times a week keeping with my previous gym schedule. So I decided I’d just put together a proper home gym and continue to work out from home. Due to the high demand for gym equipment because of the pandemic, finding everything I needed for a gym and at a reasonable price was going to be a difficult task. Thats why I decided I would detail my process in three parts. I’m going to mention where I got what from along with the prices I paid so that anybody else looking to set up a home gym can follow my steps if they want to. In this first part I’m going to be talking about the easiest part of this home gym, the floor.

Back in April I posted about a company called Green Rub that used recycled tires to make rubber fitness tiles. The tiles come in 1x1meter sizes and in two thicknesses, 2cm and 4cm. The 2cm thick tiles weigh 16kg while the 4cm tiles weigh 32kg. Going by the photos on their account I had difficulty deciding on the thickness of the tiles. Green Rub had recommended 4cm if I was planning on dropping weights from a height and since I never drop my weights I went with the 2cm. I’m glad I did because after having the tiles installed I realized they were more than enough.

The price of the tiles is 6KD per square meter and the minimum they sell you is 6 meters. I measured my space and ordered 8 meters which turned out to be perfect. Installation is easy, there is no sticking and it’s not permanent, they just lay the tiles on the floor for you wherever you want. In my case since I was covering a whole section of the floor in one of my rooms, I needed the pieces to be cut to fit perfectly edge to edge. They were able to do that for me at no extra cost and the whole thing cost me 48KD.

The end result turned out great and the tiles feel premium like they belong in a proper commercial gym. The gym floor isn’t a necessity but it does help me mentally to feel like I’ve got a proper gym. When I work out I’ll be in this newly defined gym zone which should put me in a gym mode whenever I’m in it with an added benefit of not having to worry about setting my weights down gently on my parquet floor. If you want to get this flooring for your place, here is a link to their website.

Update: I noticed they’ve now increased their price from 6KD per square meter to 7KD.

A user on Reddit a few days was asking about a local vintage clothing store which in places like the States and Europe is generally a store that sells second-hand clothing. Although I’m not aware of any vintage clothing store in that sense we do have a couple of thrift shops that sell second-hand clothes:

Odettes Closette – They’re located inside 8 Mall in Salmiya.

Thrifty M.E. – An Instagram only based account.

Both places also accept donated clothes and accessories but if you prefer your stuff to go to a better cause, below is a charitable organization which also accepts your second-hand clothes:

Basta – 80-90% of the items donated to them go to low-income community members. The rest of the items get sold with the money going towards funding student tuitions. Other than clothes you can also donate toys, books, and gadgets.

If you know of any other thrift shops let me know in the comments below.

Back in May I posted a review of my Eufy RoboVac which performed beyond my expectations. Because my experience with the RoboVac was so great I decided to also get a RoboMop. I ended up ordering the iRobot Braava Jet 240 off of Amazon which is iRobots most affordable RoboMop.

In case you didn’t get it from the name, the RoboMop is like the robot vacuum except it mops the floor with water. I have tiles covering my lower floor and hardwood on my top floor and although the RoboVac does a great job of removing the dust, it doesn’t clean up smudges or stains. I mostly have an issue in my kitchen where I have black tiles and so when after washing dishes or cooking, I end up with water stains/smudges on the floor from where I dripped water. The RoboMop I ended up getting is slightly smarter as well as dumber than my RoboVac. My RoboVac for example cleans a room by moving around randomly while the RoboMop I got moves around the room in a smarter, much more organized up and down motion. But while my RoboVac can connect to Wifi and be set to start at certain hours, the RoboMop doesn’t connect online and requires you to manually start it.

I’ve only tried the RoboMop in small areas and it’s performed pretty well. You fill up the RoboMop with water (no soap) and then place it where you want and press the clean button. I got some sprayable floor cleaner and I just spray a bit of it in the area I want to be cleaned and I let the RoboMop do its thing. Because I have black tiles its easy to see water streaks and I was getting that at one point but I solved it by reducing the amount of water the RoboMop sprays on the floor. I’m also experimenting with different cleaning pads, the unit came with disposable ones but I also ordered some more practical reusable ones which can be washed.

The RoboMop is smart enough to recognize carpet and avoid it which is great cuz I do have carpets on my tiles. Once the RoboMop finishes cleaning the floor it goes back to where it started from and turns off. So although I do wish it did have an auto start option I do like the fact I can turn it on before I leave the house and then come back to find my floors mopped and the RoboMop back in its spot.

At just 55KD the RoboMop isn’t that big of an investment in the robot cleaning world. Even shipping to Kuwait didn’t cost much since the unit is fairly light. There are smarter RoboMops available and even some RoboVac/Mop combos, but I didn’t really want to pay much more than this and really I mostly got this for my kitchen and so didn’t need anything smarter. I couldn’t find the RoboMop locally which is why I ordered it off Amazon. If you’re interested in getting one, here is the Amazon link.

BBT, one of my favorite burger places recently moved to a new much larger location. They were previously located in a small hole in the wall (literally) in Daiha but now moved to a new space in Shamiya.

The new location now has indoor seating as well as seating outside the restaurant and in the tiny park right next door. They don’t have drive-thru but they do have a car service which is composed of dedicated parking spots where waiters come and take your order. The whole process is very smooth and for those of you not wanting to dine out yet then this is a good alternative.

The opening time right now is 12:00pm to 11:00pm and here is their new location on Google Maps. They’re also on Instagram @bbtkw

Late last week the most popular car upholsterer Ehsan burned down. Ehsan was considered one of the best if not the best upholsterers in Kuwait and there were customer cars that were parked inside being worked on that all sadly burned. One of the cars that was confirmed to have burned in the fire was a beautiful white 1990s Honda NSX that belonged to the owner of B-Tune Performance.

I heard the fire supposedly started at around 3AM and when I passed by in the afternoon (picture on top) there was still smoke coming out of the building and fire trucks parked in the back still putting off the fire. I passed by again the following day and there were still fire trucks there and I saw that the whole building had collapsed into itself. I feel really bad for everyone that lost their car and I hope they get insurance money although I know that won’t bring their cars back.

Someone must have realized that the current rule for the left shoulder emergency lane was complicated and dangerous because the MOI has now canceled the left emergency lane completely. This whole you can drive on the emergency lane between certain hours only didn’t make any sense and nobody was following it anyway.

At least now its clear, if you’ve got car problems don’t stop on the left. Source

A lot of people dislike TikTok and I think it’s because they associate it with just videos of people dancing to cheesy music. I actually love TikTok to the point I avoid it because once I start watching videos I don’t stop until I start running out of battery. It’s pretty addictive, fun, and can also be informative. During the Mahboula lockdown for example I started following a few low-income workers who were living there and they basically were providing me with their point of view on how life was there during the lockdown. During the US riots recently TikTok was providing me with on the ground footage of what was happening there. But I also follow some completely stupid shit but that’s what makes TikTok so great, it’s whatever you want it to be.

My account is just filled with so much random (not even curated) stuff from various people living around Kuwait it’s become super entertaining especially now that TikTok knows what I like and so shows me more of the same. I tried to put together a list of some interesting accounts I follow and below are a few of them:

@sadiqleader – An employee at Jawad AlSaffar. It’s exactly what I’d expect their TikTok to be except it’s his personal account and it’s in Indian.

@fahad9881 – A firefighter, posts videos of various fires he’s fighting as well as cute animal rescue videos.

@in_ga_me – A Ukrainian female motorbiker living in Kuwait. The account is of her and her Honda CBR cruising up and down the Gulf Road.

@kuwaitrescueteam1 – Account of a local rescue team and it’s mostly videos of them getting cars unstuck from sand.

@_7xvo – The account of a Al Qabas newspaper journalist, was pretty useful during the lockdown.

@gooshbaker – Guy posts videos of interesting places around Kuwait. Kinda like a blog but tiktok.

@x_dexter_x1 – This is an account of a Syria guy living in Kuwait who re-engineers everyday appliances or electronics but using random bits and pieces of scrap. Kinda like science projects.

@alsarheed82 – Account of a shawarma place owner, he posts videos of his shawarma.

@shahibwtayb – A odd old guy with a super long white beard who drives a bright green Camero and never wears the same sunglasses or hats twice.

@ismayeelrana – This guy is an employee at Alsarraf Motors and posts videos of the cars they have as well as of him driving them around like they’re his.

@amorsisilin – Probably the most popular account I follow and also the most tiktokish. Belongs to a 24-year-old Kuwaiti hybrid and the videos originally were mostly of her dancing to music around my neighborhood, but now it’s mostly just dancing with her friends in different places.

@venudancer..kuwait – Lots of super cheesy skits, so cheesy and lame to the point they become good. Stuff that’s so bad you save the video to show your friends. It’s in Indian (I think) with lots of terrible acting. It’s great.

If you have interesting/weird/fun local TikTok accounts I should follow, let me know in the comments.

Back when I was in high school I used to write in the entertainment section of my school’s paper, The Voice of AIS. A reader randomly found an old copy of an issue dating back to December 1995 at her parent’s house and sent me pictures of it.

It’s obviously very bizarre reading my own articles 25 years later but what’s weirder is my writing seems to have gotten worse? I’m looking at the paper credits and it says @nazmraz was the editor of the entertainment section which could explain why I sounded like a better writer back then. I should just have her edit my blog from now on.

If you want to flip through the paper I’ve uploaded all the photos and you can check it out here.

Thanks Anfal!

Last week the new Microsoft Flight Simulator got released and with it the realistic rendering of every city around the world. The game developers used various techniques to build a 3D world including using 3D data from maps as well as using AI to convert 2D satellite maps to 3D world. It’s actually a very interesting process by itself which you could read a bit more about here.

Anyway, the video above is a Kuwait flyover if you’re curious to see how Kuwait looks like in the game. Some buildings like Hamra Tower and Souq Sharq seem to be there but some popular landmarks like the Avenues, Kuwait Towers and the National Assembly are missing. JACC is even still an empty sand plot in the game. Check it out the video above and some in-game screenshots here.

Thanks James and _madlib_