2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Earlier this week Xcite hooked me up with the brand new iPad Pro 12.9-inch that was recently released by Apple. I hadn’t really considered getting the 12.9-inch iPad Pro until I realized it would be a great way to edit my photos using Adobe Lightroom. I’ve had the iPad now for less than a week and still need to pick up the Apple pencil and keyboard, but I wanted to post my initial impression first until I get the rest of the stuff.

My current Mac setup at home is composed of a 27-inch iMac which I use mostly for my design work, a 13-inch MacBook Pro which I use as my daily computer, and a 9.7-inch iPad Pro I use for random things like watching YouTube videos in bed or when I want to chill and browse the web at a coffee shop. Most of the reviews online have been discussing if the new iPad Pro’s can replace your computer, I wasn’t looking to do that instead, I wanted it as a supplementary device to my current setup. My first impression so far? I’m loving it.

The thing that surprised me the most is the thickness and size of the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro. It’s thinner than my iPhone XS and even though I had read that in the reviews, I didn’t believe it until I put the iPad next to my phone. I compared the size of the iPad to various mac devices and you can see some of those comparisons below with more on my instagram acccount @mark248am. It’s clearly a much more manageable size compared to the older larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

So far I’ve mostly been using the iPad to edit the photos I took of the Ferrari Portofino I test drove a few days ago. I’ve been using Adobe Lightroom and the process has been super smooth. Because the new iPad Pro uses USB-C, I was able to connect my Sony A7 III camera to the iPad and copy all the photos easily and I’m loving the experience so far.

Really my only gripe with the new iPad so far is that it’s a fingerprint magnet (more than usual). Both my older 9.7-inch iPad Pro and my iPhone don’t capture as many fingerprints and it really shows on the screen both when turned on and off. I guess things will improve once I get the Apple Pencil but still, this is pretty annoying.

Once I get the pencil and keyboard I’ll post a more thorough review but for now, if you’re interested in picking up a new iPad Pro I think Xcite still have a few left [Link]

Screenshot from Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas, Sky Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Blue Night (4.6)
Burn the Stage: The Movie (9.3)
Cinderella and Secret Prince (5.7)
Dog Days (5.8)
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (7.1)
Galveston (6.2)
I Still See You (5.7)
Malicious (5.0)
Mara (5.1)
Ralph Breaks the Internet (8.1)
Robin Hood (5.8)
Street Shadows (N/A)

Other Movies Showing Now:
A Private War (7.0)
A Star Is Born (8.5)
Bel Canto (5.1)
Halloween (7.5)
Hunter Killer (6.6)
Johnny English Strikes Again (6.7)
Overlord (6.9)
The Grinch (6.1)
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (5.4)
Venom (7.1)
Zoo (6.7)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

Pearl Assist have a new membership option where for KD110 a year you get unlimited meet and assist services at the airport. I’ve tried them before and they’re really a great way to skip the long passport control queues at the airport. The GCC lines aren’t that bad but the expat lines are usually a disaster.

Pearl Assist charge KD10 for a one time meet and assist so at KD110 a year, it could be worth it if you travel a lot and want to get out of the airport as quickly as possible. If you’re interested in this service you can get more information [Here]

Update: I originally wrote it was KD100 per year but turns out they increased it to KD110 two weeks ago so updated the post accordingly.

I think I’m going to start a new series of what to order posts where I list down my favorite dishes at different restaurants around Kuwait. I’m going to start off with Peko Peko since its a new place and worth checking out. Here are my favorite dishes:

Baby Gem Salad
Charred Baby Gem Lettuce, Mandarin Segments, Apple Ginger Dressing, Crumble
KD2.750

Cali-Wearing Orange
Seared Salmon, Spicy Tuna Tartare, Avocado, Seaweed, Sesame Ginger Dressing
KD5.950

Prawn Gyoza
Shrimp, Cream Lobster Stock, Parmesan
KD3.250

Koji Chicken
Koji-Fermented Chicken Skewers, Sweet Potato Puree, Red Chili Salsa
KD3.950

Rump Yakaitori
Rump Carpaccio Skewers, White Shimiji Mushrooms, Sweet Teriyaki Glaze
KD4.250

If you haven’t heard of Peko Peko, it’s a new Japanese eatery but with East Asian influences. For more information click [Here]

Can an engineer with experience in this field explain to me and my readers why our roads got ruined after the rain last week? In Lebanon and London, for example, it rains a lot but the roads survive, how come they didn’t in Kuwait after just a weekend of rain?

Also, why did some roads survive and some not? You can see that clearly on the Gulf Road where you would be driving and the road is perfectly fine but then get to one area where the whole top surface had disintegrated.

The 43rd International Book Fair launched last week during the big storm and is going to be on until the 24th of this month at the Mishref Fairgrounds. I dropped by on Friday and it was extremely packed, like I’ve never seen the fairgrounds that packed in my life.

This is the largest book fair that takes place in Kuwait and its spread out across three halls. Around three aisles in one of the halls are dedicated to just English books but the rest is all in Arabic. For more information on the fair, click [Here]

If for some reason you need to leave your house during this storm, you can find out about road closures via Google’s Live Traffic feature. Just go to Google Maps and make sure the traffic overlay option is turned on and any closed roads should be highlighted. [Link]

If like me you don’t have satellite (live TV) and rely on streaming for your entertainment, you can still keep up to date with what’s going in Kuwait by watching the news online. Both KTV1 and KTV2 have live online streaming and you can watch them both on the MOI website [Here]

In case you aren’t aware, Spotify has now launched in Kuwait and anybody can sign up to it (no need for an invite). You have two options, either a free account that has limited features and ads, or the premium account. Strangely, the premium account in Kuwait is $4.99 a month which is half the price of the US.

I’m not sure if its because the music library for Kuwait based accounts is a lot smaller, or if its a launch promo to get people to sign up. Whatever the reason, Spotify is here so if you want to sign up, click [Here]

A major storm is expected to hit Kuwait tonight, one that is supposedly stronger than the storm that hit us last week. Schools are off tomorrow (both private and public) while the public sector is also closing down. Stay safe everyone!

On a side note, are we going to have a day off every time it rains? Cuz I’d like that.

Update: Just tried to fill up gas at two different gas stations and both were so backed up they were causing traffic jams. I guess people are panicking.

Not sure why, but it looks like the latest dessert trend in Kuwait is Japanese cheesecakes. I’m a fan of Japanese cheesecakes and if you like them as well, here are my favorite three places to get cheesecakes from:

The Cheezery
I’ve been getting Japanese cheesecakes from them for over a year now and they’re really good and the sizes of the cakes are fairly large so perfect for gatherings. They also have a location in Sharq for pick up across the street from Arraya.

Medium: KD14
Large: KD16

Here is their location on [Google Maps] and they’re on Carriage [Here].

Kotton
This is a new place that opened up recently and other than the fact their cakes are really good, they also come in a variety of sizes including mini ones. Their packaging is great and their cakes are the densest of the three here. They also opened up their physical location last week and you can pass by and have a mini cake with coffee if you don’t want it delivered.

Mini Cake (3pcs): KD4.5
Medium Cake: KD9
Large Cake: KD16

This is their location on [Google Maps] and they’re on Carriage [Here]

Japan Bakery
Finally, Japan Bakery is the most recent place I tried. Their cakes look the cutest and are fluffy but also are less cheesy tasting than the other two. They sell their cheesecakes on Carriage under the brand “Makers” which is a place that carries a bunch of different smaller locally created dessert brands. You can also pick up a cake from Hamra since there is a Makers kiosk there.

Medium Cake: KD8.5

Available in Hamra Tower or on Carriage [Here]

If you have another favorite place let me know in the comments below.

Earlier today I got an email from Saveco about their new store that’s opening in Avenues Phase 4, entrance 28. Funny thing is I was actually in Avenues Phase 4 going down the escalator of entrance 28 when I got and read the email. Since I was already there I decided to check out the location and snap some photos.

Not sure why they’re planning to open in Avenues when their main store is located down the street unless they’re planning to close that location down. Since I always park at entrance 28, this location will be a convenient place for me to pop into on my way out of the Avenues, so I’m not going to complain.

Saveco in Avenues is opening this Thursday at noon.

As I mentioned in my last Ferrari post, in the lead up to my Ferrari Portofino drive, the local Ferrari dealer and I decided I’d test drive the two previous models first, the Ferrari California, and the Ferrari California T. I wasn’t really excited to drive the California T after driving the California because I assumed they would be too similar. I didn’t think there would be much to write about but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I was lucky enough to pick up the car on Thursday last week when the weather was still perfect. It was going to rain that evening but it was clear during the day and the sky was really beautiful which really helped my shots come out great. Actually, the color and the lines of the car also helped with that as well. The California T looks similar to the previous California at first glance, but there are some defining differences. On the exterior, the biggest change would be the front lights and the slightly more aggressive styling on the side. While on the inside, the biggest change would be the updated entertainment system and the steering wheel. In my last California post, I mentioned how one of the things that made the car feel normal was the lack of buttons on the steering wheel. In the California T, the buttons that control the turn signals, lights and wipers are now all back and located on the steering wheel. Definitely overwhelming at first but you quickly get used to it and then wonder why other car manufacturers don’t do this as well.

But, the biggest change with the California T takes place under the hood. The T stands for turbo and the California T has two of those connected to a V8 engine producing 553hp and a 0-100km time of just 3.6 seconds. The car felt a lot faster than the first generation California and handled a lot better. The car felt a lot stiffer during turns but yet somehow still managed to eat up potholes comfortably. Really the only issue I could think of if I was being picky is the exhaust sound, I wished it was louder at normal cruising speeds. The car was a lot of fun to drive and while with the first California I dropped it back to the dealership earlier than I was supposed to, with the California T I actually wanted to keep it for the weekend.

The next Ferrari I’ll be taking out is the newer Portofino so I’m pretty excited about that. I saw the car on display at the dealership and it looks even better than the California T so can’t wait. The car I drove in this post is actually a 2016 model and listed on their for sale on their pre-owned website for KD59,000. But the dealer does have one starting at KD43,000 and you can check it out along with the one I drove and the rest of their pre-owned lineup [Here]

The Cross Cultural Diwaniya have a discussion coming up this Wednesday on Kuwait’s urban infrastructure. It’s a perfectly timed discussion after all the chaos that occurred last week because of the rain. So if have an opinion or want to hear other peoples opinion on this subject, register for this event. For more info, click [Here]