Search: “uber”

There is so much to go over in regards to things you can do in L.A., so I decided to split it up into categories and also show you how to find stuff to do yourself. The most important thing is to keep an open mind (when it comes to doing things you might not usually do), don’t be lazy and be ready to spend a lot of time in traffic commuting all across the Greater Los Angeles area.

Transportation
Unlike cities like New York and London, Los Angeles is extremely spread out and so I wouldn’t recommend relying on public transportation or cab services like Uber and Lyft as your only means of transport. Instead I highly recommend renting a car. I always use Avis since they tend to have the best prices and I’ve never had a bad experience with them. I tend to pick it up from the airport when I arrive and then drop it back there on my way out. You don’t need an international driving license to drive in L.A., your Kuwaiti driving license is all you need. Prices are also not that expensive, a Ford Mustang convertible is for around $65 a day which includes unlimited mileage and full insurance, so you can imagine how much cheaper regular cars would be. If you don’t want to use a rental company for some reason or if you’re looking for a very specific car (like a TRD Tacoma or a Tesla) you can also use Turo which is a service similar to Airbnb except for cars.

First Time in L.A.?
If it’s your first time in L.A. then definitely hit up all the touristic spots like Disney Land, Universal Studios, Six Flags, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Griffith Observatory, The Getty etc.. You should also probably drive out to Las Vegas and check that as well.

Off the Beaten Track
If it’s not your first time in L.A. or are looking for something less touristy to do then it really depends what you’re into. Below are a few things I like doing:

Museums: I didn’t like The Getty, but I loved The Broad and the Petersen Automotive Museum. If you want to check out The Broad make sure you reserve your tickets in advance, it’s free entry but they limit the number of people per day. If you’re planning to visit L.A. this year between October 21st and January 1st, then I’d recommend you also reserve your ticket for the new Yayoi Kusama exhibit called Infinity Mirrors. Tickets will be released on September 1st and they’ll most likely finish quickly, here is a link with more info on the exhibit [Link]. On my last trip to L.A. I got to experience Yayoi’s previous exhibit, “Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away“. I had to get to the museum one hour before opening and line up outside so that once the museum opened I could then rush in and wait in another line for 30 minutes so I could then get a number so that when my turn came two hours later, I could spend 45 seconds in the Infinity Mirrored Room trying to take a photo. Insane. If you’re into cars I’d also recommend you do the extended tour at the Petersen Automotive Museum which includes a tour of their vault which is their car collection in the basement which isn’t on display in the main museum.

Concerts: There are concerts taking place on a daily basis in L.A. When I was there for example a lot of cool musicians were performing including Nine Inch Nails, Iggy Pop, Metallica, BUSH, Tears for Fears, Lionel Richie and Slayer. There were hundreds of more bands performing while I was there if not thousands. The best way to see what concerts are taking place while you’re visiting is to check Ticket Master. You can plug in the dates you’re going to be in L.A. and then scroll through pages and pages of concerts taking place during that time. If you can’t find tickets for sale because they’re sold out, check Stub Hub, thats where I usually buy my sold out tickets from. For electronic music I’d recommend checking Resident Advisor for club dates.

Events: There are soo many things happening every day in L.A., so much that its nearly impossible to go through it all. While I was in L.A. there were a bunch of things that interested me that were taking place including UFC 214 which I sadly ended up missing. There are two ways of finding events that I’d recommend, the first is using Facebook. Facebook allows you to explore events taking place near you and you can be pretty specific about the kind of event you’re looking for and the date you want to check. By being more specific, instead of navigating through thousands and thousands of entries you end up having to dig through hundreds. Still a lot of events to go through, but not as bad. The second way to find events is to decide on an area you want to visit and then see whats taking place there. So for example I wanted to visit Huntington Beach and it turned out the Vans US Open of Surfing was taking place there so I checked it out. When I went to play volleyball on Hermosa Beach, the Charlie Saikley 6-Man Beach Volleyball Tournament way taking place up the road in Manhattan Beach so me and my friends ended up heading there after our game. Actually now that I think about it, there is a third way of finding events, you find one based on your interest. You could just google your interest like “yoga event los angeles” and end up with a bunch of cool things like hip hop yoga or a cannabis infused yoga event.

Beaches: I went to four different beaches on my trip and my favorite two were Hermosa and Manhattan Beach. I went on weekdays and weekends and both beaches were pretty much empty. Because the beaches in L.A. stretch across the whole coastline, and because the beaches are so huge, it never gets packed, I love it. Even when we were playing beach volleyball on Saturday afternoon, there were two other courts next to ours that were not occupied. And that was on a weekend! You could also rent a bike on one beach and ride it all along the coastline through the other beaches since they’re all connected. The bike path is called the Marvin Braude Bike Trail and stretches for 35KM. The only thing you’ll have an issue with when beaching is finding parking. My tip for that would be to park far away and then Uber it down to the beach.

TV Shows: L.A. is home to a bunch of cool TV shows and you can sign up to be part of the live audience. Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Maher, The Price is Right and Jeopardy all tape in L.A. and you can watch them all for free. All you need to do is sign up ahead of time to make sure you have a higher chance of scoring a ticket. To get tickets, just visit your favorite shows website and you’ll find a link to sign up for them there.

Other Random Things: There are a few places I personally enjoyed while in L.A. If you’re into video games you might want to combine it with alcohol and visit a couple of barcades like The One Up or EightyTwo. I would also highly recommend you go bowling at the Highland Park Bowl which is the oldest bowling alley in L.A. It opened up back in 1927 and is still alive and kicking today. Its by far the coolest bowling alley I’ve ever been to and has great music and even a bar. L.A. is also home to the largest IKEA in North America if that’s something you’re into. Oue Skyspace in downtown have a glass slide outside the skyscraper which is a quick thing to try out if you’re in downtown. Finally, visit The Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard for some great comedy in a small cozy space. Tickets are usually just $5 and lots of great comedians are regulars there like Joe Rogan, Joey Diaz, Marc Maron, Jamie Kennedy and David Spade. It’s also the home of my favorite podcast Kill Tony.

Eats: I already posted a bunch of cool places to eat at in L.A. last week and I’ll be adding more to that list probably later today or tomorrow. If you haven’t checked that list out already, here is the [Link]

I think thats all I have to share for now. Like I said there is so much to do and you really need a car to be able to freely move around. If there is anything else you want to know, just let me know in the comments below.

A few days ago I posted about the app Q8 Grand Limo which I promoted as an alternative for Uber and Careem. That same night they sent out an SMS with a 248AM coupon code which would offer people 20% off on their trips. It kinda pissed me off since they sent it without contacting me first, nor did they even ask me if it was OK to use my brand. Nobody from Q8 Grand Limo had spoken to me at all so when I got the SMS myself, I was surprised and pissed. So I decided I wasn’t going to write about them ever again.

Then this morning I decided to try them out and had such a great experience I decided that even though I’m pissed off at them, they were so good that it would be a shame not to write about my experience.

I had to pass by the Lotus garage and pick up my car today so I pre-booked a ride for 9:30AM. I ended up waking up earlier than expected so canceled my pre-booking and reordered a cab to come right away. The time estimate given was 15 minutes and I could track the cab on his way over to my house via the app. Once the cab arrived, like with Uber, I got a notification letting me know he was here and I headed down to find a sparkling clean black Chrysler with dark tinted windows and a tan leather interior. The driver even came out to open the door for me and he was dressed in black pants, a white shirt, a black vest and a tie. First impression, it felt very fancy.

The driver had my location already plugged into Google Maps and we headed towards Rai using Google’s recommended fastest route. Once we got to my destination, he asked me how I wanted to pay and I said Knet, so he pulled out the Knet machine and I paid. The trip should have cost KD3 which is a steal for the experience, but I ended up using the coupon code “248AM” which they had spammed people with and I ended up paying just KD2.4. Thats from Salmiya to Al Rai. Very cool. It’s actually kinda of a relief that we finally have a decent cab offering. Next week I have to drop my car off again to ProTech to get window tinting and I’ll definitely be using them again.

So all is forgiven and I’m not that pissed off at them anymore. If you want to take advantage of the promo code, you need to enter 248AM in the promo code space while booking the cab. The expiry date for the code is end of the year but they’ve limited the number of times the code can be used to 1,000. So until the code is used a thousand times (by everyone not just you), then we will be able to get 20% off our rides. Thats a really good deal.

Update: OK, Q8 Grand Limo called me up now to explain the confusion. The promo code is just meant for me, it will only work with my phone number so you guys won’t be able to use it. I told them they should have called me an explained what it was before sending me the SMS without and that I already posted about it on the blog. So the person I spoke to said they’ll work on an updated promo code for my readers and send it to me when it’s ready to share.

This is kinda related to my previous post, Portarage is a local roadside assistance app that allows you to request help if you run into car problems. The app has four different kinds of assistance you could call for:

– Tow Truck
– Flat Tire
– Petrol
– Battery

A couple of years back I had posted about a similar app called Winch but that’s no longer available or working and was only for calling a tow truck. Portarage should be a better alternative since not only can you request a tow truck but you could request a jump start, help fixing a flat tire or call for fuel in case you run out.

The app is available for both [iOS] and [Android] and is free to download.

Back before the iPod came out and Apple became popular, there was an Apple store located across the street from Salhiya. As a teenager I used to walk by the store and dream about owning a Power Mac which I thought back then was one of the hottest looking computers on the market. Fast forward around a decade later and that Apple store was abandoned. I ended up taking some photos of it in that abandoned state and published them online as part of my Miskan project. The photos got picked up by the likes of Engadget and Gizmodo since the store was like a time capsule. After my 15 seconds of fame that was it.. until this week.

Somehow the photos have started making their rounds around the internet again, they first got posted on reddit and then the popular YouTuber EverythingApplePro who has like 3 million subscribers shared the photos in his latest video. Gotta love the internet. My pictures make it in his video above at the 2:10 mark but you can check out all the photos I had taken back then [Here]

I eventually ended up getting the vinyl ‘Think Different’ campaign banners that are in the photos. I still have them tucked away in my closet and from what I’ve been able to gather, they’re now worth a nice penny or two.

Thanks Salah!

When I originally purchase my Datsun 240z, it had an old cassette player and just two crappy speakers in the rear, one of which didn’t work. I was happy with the cassette player since I still had some tapes but because one of the speakers wasn’t working, I went and bought a pair of cheap ones. A week or two after that my cassette player stop working, and I think the speakers I got had something to do with that. I tried finding another cassette player on eBay but either they weren’t old enough (to match the car’s era) or they were just ridiculously overpriced. So I decided to just do a complete overhaul of the car stereo since I was spending so much time driving the car anyway.

I had two objectives, the first was that whatever I decided to do, it shouldn’t mess with the look of the car. The second objective was that I didn’t want to spend an exuberant amount since I already did that with my FJ. So I limited my budget but still tried to get a decent sound. So after a bit of research I went with the following:

• Pioneer MVHX560BT Digital Media Receiver KD30
• 240z Front Speaker Panels (the 240z only had speakers in rear) KD28
• Rockford P1650 6.5-Inch 2-Way Full Range Speaker KD16
• Rockford Fosgate Punch P152 5-Inch Full Range Coaxial Speakers KD17
• Alpine KTP-445U 4-channel Power Pack Amplifier KD35
• Kenwood KSC-SW11 Compact Powered Enclosed Subwoofer KD42

The Pioneer head unit was perfect since it wasn’t very expensive, had bluetooth and was around half the size of regular units which meant I could hide it in my glove box. That way I could keep the old cassette player visible keeping with the car’s era, but behind the scenes I would have a much newer system running the show. Now when I turn the car on, the head unit automatically connects to my phone via bluetooth and I then can control the music and volume all from my phone without ever needing to open my glove box.

For the speakers I went with Rockford Fosgate because they were affordable and had gotten a lot of praise, plus there was a bit of nostalgia involved since I installed Rockford Fosgate components in my car back in university. For the amp I went with the Alpine model because it was small enough to hide under and behind the dashboard while still being powerful enough to run the speakers. Finally I got a tiny Kenwood subwoofer that fit perfectly behind the passenger seat and away from sight.

The result? The music sounds so much better now obviously but the interior still looks the same so you can’t really tell there is a powerful sound system in the car. I didn’t install the stuff myself, instead I went to my favorite car audio guys Zaharat Al Naseem. It took maybe an hour for the whole install and they did a great job of hiding all the wiring.

For those of you interested I’m starting a build page for my 240z where I will document everything I’ve done and will be doing to it. You can access that [Here]. Also again for those interested, I have a build page for my FJ, its around 4 pages long and I’ve been updating it since 2010, you can find that [Here]

Careem is a taxi app similar to Uber but one that actually works in Kuwait. Some of the features of the app include:

– Ability to add a credit card to your account and use it to pay for your rides
– The rides are metered
– Track your ride in real time
– You can pre-book a cab in advance

I’ve never used them but the biggest complaint I had heard about them was that they were expensive. They must have heard those complaints because they’ve now reduced their prices by 30% in addition to the fact they now accept cash payments.

Their app is available for both Android and iOS devices and if you want to find out more you can visit their website [Here]

Update: Careem just contacted me to let me know they created the promo code “248AM”. If you use this promo code in their app then you get 50% off you first “Economy Ride” journey. The promo code is valid until July 31 and applies to cash and credit card bookings.

Haven’t tried using this app yet but hopefully it’s more reliable than the other taxi app I’ve tried using before, Q8 Taxi. I tried ordering a cab with Q8 Taxi when I had to drop off my car for detailing and the drivers kept canceling my taxi request. Whats taking Uber so long to launch in Kuwait??

To download Abi Taxi on your iPhone just search for Abi Taxi in the app store or click [Here]

Until Uber comes to Kuwait we’re kinda stuck with alternatives for now and the most recent one I found out about is the Q8 Taxi app. I haven’t ordered a cab with it yet since I haven’t had a need for one, but I have been playing with the app and noticed two interesting things about Q8 Taxi. The first is that there always seems to be a cab nearby. The second is that the taxis they use have working meters. The description under “Car Type” in the app is “Meter Taxi” but I thought that might just be a generic description so I called customer support to confirm their cabs actually use the meters and they confirmed to me that they do. If thats the case then this could be the best app to use until Uber becomes available.

If you’ve used the app before, let me know below of your experience. For those of you who are interested in downloading the app, it’s available for both iOS and Android. [Link]

Every year I like to post an updated list of the hottest places in Lebanon to check out. Since I know a lot of people are heading to Beirut at the moment I figured it was time to post this list. The venues are posted in the order I went to:

The Bus Station
When I first heard about this place I thought they meant The Train Station which I had posted about [Here]. Turns out The Bus Station is located right next to The Train Station except it’s an indoor venue. It’s literally an old bus station which they’ve turned into a giant club and there are a bunch of busses scattered all around as a reminder. The night I went to it Red Bull were hosting the evening and live bands were performing. The Bus Station is located in Mar Mikhael and is a project by überhaus.

Twenty Seven
After The Bus Station I headed to another new place that opened up called Twenty Seven. It’s located in the Beirut Souks and is run by the Skybar Group. DJETTE (pictured above), one of my favorite Lebanese DJ’s is a resident there so it’s definitely a place I would want to hit up on my trips. They also bring in a lot of international acts so there is always something going on. Follow them on instagram to stay updated on their upcoming events. [Link]

The Grand Factory
Located on the rooftop of a factory in the industrial Karantina area of Beirut, The Grand Factory is one of the hottest venues at the moment. The space is obviously very industrial looking and the journey begins with a fun ride in a giant industrial elevator to the top. It’s the new home of C U NXT SAT. [Link]

OFF / ON
OFF & ON is a barbershop by day and a crazy club at night. Walking by the shop you can’t even tell there is a club right on top of it but if you’re in the know, a guy sitting in the barber chair will hit a hidden switch revealing a hidden door that leads to the club upstairs. Would have taken a better picture but by this point in the evening I was already too trashed. OFF & ON is located in the back of the An-Nahar building, same building that has Iris on the roof. [Link]

B018
For frequent travelers to Beirut, this place doesn’t need an introduction and they just celebrated their 21 year anniversary a few nights ago. B018 is a place I highly recommend heading there after clubbing, preferably around 5AM. The best feeling is when you’re completely wasted and they open up the roof so you can see the sun come up, and then they close it again so you could continue to party. It’s really what makes B018 special, it’s the club everyone goes to after a night of hard clubbing and just before going to breakfast. [Link]

Until Uber comes to Kuwait we have to make due with alternatives and as of recently the only alternative we had available was Easy Taxi. I’ve used them a few times and I have mixed feelings about them. For one thing every time I book a car the driver calls me up and asks me where I am even though he has my GPS location on his map. The other annoying thing is the fact that they try to negotiate a price before they even pick me up which I hate doing. My last issue is the fact that I have to pay cash instead of having the ride charged to my credit card similar to how I do with Uber. This is where Careem comes in.

Careem is an alternative to Easy Taxi that has recently come into the market. I haven’t had the chance to use them just yet but first impressions from their app and website is that they might be a worthy alternative. Why?

– You can add a credit card to your account and use it to pay for your rides
– The rides are metered
– You can pre-book a cab in advance

The only negative I can see at the moment is that their rides will cost you more. The minimum cost for their “Economy Car” is KD3 while their “Business Car” is KD4. If you’re interested in trying them out you can download their app or visit their website [Here]

I’m a big fan of Qatar Airways for long haul flights and have used them previously to fly to New York, Tokyo and most recently Cape Town. So last week when Qatar Airways invited me to fly out to Qatar to check out their new plane, I jumped at the opportunity. I had never visited Qatar before (other than during transit) so I was as excited to check out the country as I was their new plane. Plus, I had some friends who I hadn’t seen since university that lived there and really wanted to see them as well.

I left Kuwait Tuesday night flying out first class but on one of their old planes which I’m not a fan of. I think they have six flights a day from Kuwait and I know at least one of those flights uses the much newer Boeing 787 Dreamliner which is a beautiful plane with a proper business class. As I mentioned in my previous post, the new Qatar airport is insane, probably one of the nicest airports I’ve been to and such a huge improvement over their older one. After landing and checking into the hotel I decided to head to Hakkasan for dinner at the beautiful St. Regis Hotel. Why don’t we have a hotel like that in Kuwait??? Anyway after somehow spending KD55 for an unimpressive dinner, I retreated back to my hotel for the night.

Wednesday morning I woke up early along with at least a hundred media people from all around the world and via shuttle busses we were all taken to the old Qatar airport for a press conference. Qatar Airways was the first airline in the world to receive the new A350 XWB plane which is why they made such a big deal about it. This is supposedly the last completely new plane that will be released for at least the next 10 years and so all eyes are on it. The actual press conference was pretty boring until the Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker started a Q&A session. God damn he’s impressive, not only does he know his airline inside out but personality wise he’s such a direct and blunt person. He was really inspiring and I was just sitting there thinking how I really need to be doing so much more with my life. After the Q&A was over we were invited to check out the new plane which was parked outside on the tarmac.

The A350 XWB is the successor to the A330 and the A340 (you’ve most likely flown on them before), it’s also Airbuses answer to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. XWB stands for extra wide body and allows the airline to fit an extra seat in economy creating a 3-3-3 seating formation. Most of the new features of the plane are under the hood but the ones we will notice the most are the larger windows and the quieter engines. The plane is also supposed to be very comfortable for long trips due to a number of other features like low cabin pressure, pure air inflight and precision air management. The first thing I wanted to do once I got onto the plane though was to check out the economy seats. I mostly fly economy so I really wanted to get a feel for it on this plane. The economy seats on the Qatar Airways A350 are pretty comfortable, the leg room fantastic (I’m 6’1) and the media system super responsive and a considerable upgrade over the system I recently used on the Dreamliner which was already great. Once done with Economy I walked into the business class cabin which was very familiar since I had just flown business from Cape Town to Doha on the Dreamliner. The A350 business class cabin looked practically the same since the seats are provided to Qatar Airways by a third party and they use the same ones on their different planes. But, because the A350 has an extra wide body, the seat manufacturer is able to make the seats slightly wider. One thing I loved is the window shades in business class although like on the Dreamliner they don’t completely block the sunlight which can be irritating if you’re trying to reduce glare on your laptop screen or just want complete darkness.

[YouTube]

After checking out the plane I decided to head out and explore Doha and meet up with my friends. I ended up going to Katara Village and The Pearl both beautiful places. I also ended up having dinner at Opal by Gordon Ramsay which I also thought was unimpressive (they couldn’t even cook the burger right and the bun was crumbling like it was 2 days old). Generally I thought some parts of Doha looked like a mini Dubai like their downtown area and parts of their coastal roads but the other parts of Doha looked like Farwaniya. You have this huge contrast between the different parts of the city and it just makes things confusing since I kept flip flopping between liking and not liking Doha. They don’t even have highways so every trip no matter how short it was would take 30 minutes. On the plus side they have Uber which I used throughout my whole stay.

It was a pretty cool and quick trip. They’re going to be receiving new A350s every month and hopefully I’ll get to fly on one soon. For now though their first route is from Doha to Frankfurt and that’s not a route I’ll be taking anytime in the near future. Kuwait Airways recently announced that they’ve ordered 25 of these new planes as well but it’s probably going to be awhile before they start receiving them. Anyway if you want to find out more about the plane check out this [Link]

I’m at the Cape Town airport right now waiting for my flight back to Kuwait and I figured this would be the best time to write about one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.

I booked my flight to Cape Town on impulse and not by doing a lot of research. I was at the Foo Fighters website checking out their tshirts when I decided to check and see where they were touring. I noticed they were going to be in Cape Town in December so I figured why not go watch them there. I booked the concert tickets and then messaged my friend in Cape Town telling her I would be visiting. I then booked my airline ticket and that was pretty much it. Around two weeks before leaving to Cape Town I started doing some research trying to see what else there is to do there. First thing popped up was the Sonar electronic music festival, it was taking place on the last two days I would be in Cape Town so I purchased tickets to that as well. I then kept researching and came up with a pretty long list of things I wanted to do in Cape Town and that included:

Bungee Jumping
Paragliding
Hang Gliding
Skydiving
Surfing
Kite Surfing
Hot Air Balloon Ride
Wine Tasting

Once I got to Cape Town I started planning my schedule.

Where I stayed
Because December is peak season in Cape Town and I was booking everything last minute I couldn’t find a good hotel to stay in so I ended up staying in a beautiful bed and breakfast called Radium Hall. The website and photos really don’t do it any justice and 6 nights stay cost me just KD160. Insanely great value and I’m so glad I ended up staying there instead of a hotel. The view from the balcony wow… I loved coming back home just for the view.

How I got around
While in Cape Town I was using the Uber cab service the whole time and I found it incredibly cheap and practical. 80% of my trips were costing me on average KD1 and my most expensive trips were to the airport and those cost me KD4. All the cab drivers were super friendly and they even have Uber Chopper in Cape Town where you can order a chopper and an Uber black car picks you up and takes you to a helicopter which will then give you a tour of Cape Town.

What I did
So I had a pretty long list of things to do but I decided to prioritize and ended up doing the following:

Foo Fighters
The first day I got there I did the Foo Fighters concert. It was being held in the Cape Town Stadium and I arrived five hours early hoping to be first in line only to find a fairly large queue already waiting. I still managed to end up center stage though and forth row standing which is super close. It was a great show and three hours long, they played all their greatest hits since back in 1995. I loved it.

Skydiving
I’ve been wanting to skydive for such a long time and even though I could have done it in Dubai I really wasn’t interested in jumping over a dessert/city. I wanted to jump out of a plane over a beautiful landscape and I’m glad I ended up doing it in Cape Town. I did the jump with Skydive Cape Town, it cost around KD80 including pick up and drop off. We were three jumpers at the same time (tandem of course) and we squeezed into the back of a super tiny plane that looked like it was 50 years old. Super freaky but that was part of the experience. It took us around 20 minutes to get to the right jumping height and then one by one we jumped out of the plane. I wasn’t the slightest bit scared I was just really curious to see how I would react when we first jumped out and my reaction turned out to be just pure excitement. They recorded a video of the jump and basically for the first 30 seconds while we were free falling all you could hear me scream was “fuuuuccccck yesssss!!”. I loved it. The company I jumped with seemed a bit old fashioned though when it came to documenting the jump. They took photos and videos from a camera that my skydive instructor wore on his wrist while in Dubai for example, based on the photos I’ve seen, they actually have another jumper jump with you to take photos of you. Also they gave me the video on DVD.. in DVD format so even though they shot the video with a GoPro in HD, the video I got was low res. Plus who still has a DVD player?

Bungee Jumping
The second activity I did was bungee jumping. This turned out to be a complicated activity to perform just because of the planning it involved. The highest bungee jumping bridge in the world is at Bloukrans Bridge which is a whopping 8 hours drive from Cape Town. I was planning of renting a car and driving there but then I found a quicker way to get there. I ended up flying out from Cape Town to an area called George and then renting a car from the airport and driving around two and a half hours to Nature’s Valley which is just 10 minutes away from the Bloukrans Bridge. I booked a room at the Tranquility Lodge for the night and they helped me book my bungee jump for the same day.

This whole two day trip was a beautiful experience. First of all the jump was insane. Like the skydive I wasn’t scared at all before the jump, in fact I was pretty numb. I had a bunch of things on my mind and so was too preoccupied to be scared. I was actually worried I might get scared while standing at the edge but even that didn’t bother me. But, as soon as I jumped the first second or two I was fine but because the jump is soo high (216 meters) it just felt like I wouldn’t stop and I was thinking what the fuck when will the bungee cord snap back up. It was exhilarating. The company running the bungee jumping was also extremely extremely professional. I mean every step of the way from booking till the end they were very organized. They also took some great photos and shot an amazing video of the jump which I later purchased from them on a memory card. Definitely worth the experience and the jump cost just KD20 (not including around KD60 for the flight, KD30 for the car rental and KD15 for the room).

The rest of the day I ended up spending it on the Nature’s Valley beach. I didn’t even know my lodge was located next to the beach but I heard a sound of a waterfall behind a large green bushy area so I went to explore and ended up finding myself on a large fairly secluded beach with waves splashing constantly. It was beautiful and that alone would have been worth the trip.

Surfing
Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to surf, probably because all the cool people used to be surfers on tv shows and I just wanted to be cool like them as a kid growing up. Cape Town is a surf town so it wasn’t very difficult finding a surfing school. I ended up booking a private session with one of the best and most expensive surfing schools in Cape Town called Stoked School of Surf. The private two hour lesson cost me around KD40 which isn’t really expensive just expensive compared to other options available.

This experience turned out to be wayyyyy more fun than I ever imagined. Not only that but by half way through my lesson I was already standing on the board and surfing to the beach. The whole team behind Stoked were very professional and they had two dedicated photographers covering the private and group lessons, one guy in the water with a GoPro while the other on the shore with a DSLR.

[YouTube]

Sonar Cape Town
I was pretty surprised to find out the Sonar music festival was coming to Cape Town. Even though the event was being held over two days I ended up just buying a ticket for the second day since there were two musicians I REALLY wanted to see, Jon Hopkins and Ten Walls. Both turned out to be the last acts of the night so I kept popping in and out of the festival all day long until I was back there at 1AM to watch Jon Hopkins and then Ten Walls at 3AM.

I have mixed feelings about Sonar, Cape Town definitely isn’t a partying city in the same way Barcelona is where I was back in May for the Sonar festival there. When I first popped in at 4PM there were literally like 5-10 people there only watching one of the performances (pic above). It looked like a really bad high school prom. Then later on during the day it started getting more packed but for example when Jon Hopkins was going to come on I don’t think anybody knew who he was except me, a friend and another couple who were there standing in front of the stage with us waiting for Jon to come on. Turns out the other couple were from the same town at Jon hence why they knew who he was. Both Jon Hopkins and Ten Wall were ridiculous and I’m so glad I watched them live.

Why Cape Town is amazing

Cape Town is a bit like Lebanon, LA and Miami all combined into one. I travel a lot and I’ve been to a lot of great cities but Cape Town is the first one I actually want to move to. I feel there are a ton of business opportunities here and I really really can’t describe how beautiful the city is. I loved the fact that if you want to go camping in the middle of nowhere or go to a beautiful private secluded beach, you can and they’re just 30 minutes drive away. The beaches! I went beach hopping one day and every beach we ended up at was nicer than the beach before it. The sand is snow white and the water a clean and sparkling blue. You have the huge table mountain right behind you as well so it’s such a pretty sight wherever you go. And the food… I literally just had sea food while I was here and everywhere I ate was just delicious. My favorite places were probably Beluga, Haiku and Willoughby & Co. I didn’t drink any wine while I was here but I didn’t have to since Cape Town beer is some of the best I’ve ever had as well. I was introduced to Castle Lite by the owner of the bed and breakfast I was staying in on the very first day I arrived and I was constantly drinking that for the rest of the trip. Oh and for those of you who don’t think Cape Town is safe, I found it as safe as New York. I was out past midnight in some dodgy neighborhoods without feat but I was also “mugging ready” meaning like in New York or any other city for that matter which I travel to, I always am prepared in case I get mugged. I always have a backup credit card and debit card in my hotel and I make sure I don’t wear my expensive watches or carry expensive electronics other than my phone.

I’m on the plane now about to take off so have to quickly end this post. In conclusion, Cape Town is a must visit city and it’s easy to get to, just one stop away with Qatar Airways or Emirates. Cape Town is where I am going to retire in.

If you’re going down to Lebanon for Eid at the end of the month, here are my favorite places you need to visit for 2014:

SUN.DAYS at Skybar
Skybar Beirut have something new going on this year and it’s called SUN.DAYS. Starts at 6:30PM on Sundays while the sun is still up and goes on till past midnight. The whole Skybar gets a major makeover for SUN.DAYS with fake grass flooring, a raised bar area and colorful lounges and chairs all over. It actually takes them nearly 12 hours to setup this conversion, that’s how dedicated they are to SUN.DAYS. There are also special guests on SUN.DAYS and while I was there HVOB were performing and I ended up capturing the great shot below. Reservation is a must.

Le Montagnou
Probably the nicest looking pool in Lebanon with the greatest view. Located up in Faraya, Le Montagnou is a restaurant with an outdoor pool and bar. Caters mostly to the fancy schmancy crowd of Faraya and Faqra but still cheaper than many pools in Beirut and cheaper than most of the pools in Kuwait. Stay for the sunset and reservation is a must.

The Gärten by Uberhaus
They’re only open Saturday night from around 8PM to 6AM and it was favorite place last summer and again this summer. It’s an outdoor club that’s open just for the summer with a large green garden filled with bean bags on one side and a huge open dome which is the dance floor on the other.

Internazionale
There are a ton of great pubs in Mar Mikhael but my favorite this trip was Internazionale. It’s owned by the same owner as another favorite pub of mine Torino Express. Internazionale has two advantages over Torino, a larger space and the fact it’s located in the more vibrant Mar Mikhael area. Just like at Torino, the owner DJ’s here as well.

The Train Station
I wish I had taken pictures of this place but I didn’t have my camera on me then. The Train Station is located on the grounds of the old Mar Mikhael train station. They’ve taken one of the abandoned rusty 50+ year old trains and setup a DJ booth inside. They then setup a bar along with tables all around and they’ve kept everything intact including a rust old water tower which the bar surrounds. Pricy for what it is but it’s worth checking out.

The Junkyard
Also located in Mar Mikhael, The Junkyard is located in a large space between a heavily packed residential area and the theme of the place is a giant junkyard. There is indoor and outdoor seating it’s also worth passing by and checking out since it’s visually interesting. The place is a bit too bright so best to start off your evening with The Junkyard which makes sense anyway since they have a good food menu filled with friendly dishes like burgers and fish & chips.

Make sure you check out last years Ultimate Lebanon Summer Guide since most of the recommendations are still applicable as well [Link]

This is something that myself, my clients and I’m sure most people reading this will relate to. You eat well, you exercise at least 3 times per week, sometimes you may even use a trainer, but no matter how hard you train and how clean your diet is, getting those desired results you are working so hard for is so damn hard.

Well for the last 2.5 years I have been in Kuwait, I have noticed something that, at first, baffled me. The first 6 months I was in Kuwait I gained 6kg. I was exercising more than I ever did back in New Zealand and very cautious with my eating habits but no matter what I did I couldn’t shift this weight (and I’m a midget at 5ft3.5 so 6kg is very noticeable)

Then something strange happened. I went on vacation and came back lighter and leaner. Now, I can assure you right now; I wasn’t on vacation eating celery sticks and lettuce leaves that’s for sure. So what happened?

After becoming Bio Signature Practitioner almost 2 years ago, all these questions started to get answered.

After asking my coach on Bio Signature (who has trained Olympic Athletes and has over 20 years experience). He said to me ‘Where do you live?’ I said ‘Kuwait’. He said ‘KUWAIT! Hmmm, I’ve been asked to go do courses in the Middle East and turned them down because of how toxic it is, that’s your culprit right there’.

He then went on to explain to me that with so much toxicity entering the body, the pathways for nutrients and hormones get blocked by toxicity bonds that attach to fat cells which causes stubborn fat, like cellulite, that is hard to break down.

This also result’s in low Testosterone levels and a healthy amount of Testosterone is important for reducing body fat in both female and male and is absolutely imperative for male health and wellbeing.

After hearing this I started to notice things in Kuwait that backed up his claims:

1- I started to notice how many males in Kuwait have female body types. Such as, bigger hips and legs and smaller upper-bodies. Low Testosterone right there.

2- Low Testosterone in men causes a lower sperm count. Men with a lower sperm count are more likely to father girls. There are a significantly larger proportion of Females in Kuwait than Males. Last I was told the ratio of females to males here is 4:1.

3- Most people drink out of plastic bottles, which have Pseudo Estrogens, which act as female hormones when they enter our body.

4- Almost every Bio Signature I have done on men and woman in Kuwait has shown their first priority (highest reading) as their Hamstring (at the top of the back of the leg). The Estrogen Sight of the body.

So how can you rectify this?

1- Include weight training in your gym routine, everyone and anyone needs a healthy amount of Testosterone, even the ladies. Low Testosterone=High Body Fat.

2- Drink your water from glass bottles and drink at least 2L per day. Say ‘NO’ to plastic.

3- Eat your greens. Veges have antioxidant’s that help break the bonds of the toxins so you can break down the fat.

4- Take supplements that help your body detoxify. Below is what I suggest and I’ve also included the link from where you can purchase them if you choose.

The Poliquin Supplements in my opinion are the best in the world hands down, I love them, my clients love them and for me that’s a home run. (No I’m not affiliated with them I just love their products)

1- Zinc PX: Zinc is an essential mineral that helps with all functions of the body. It has been said if you are deficient in Zinc you are deficient in everything. Fatloss, healthy immune system, healthy Testosterone levels and detoxification are all assisted by Zinc.

2- Multi Intense (with Iron for woman): essential for us here in Kuwait as our fresh produce is rarely local so lacks nutrients making it impossible for us to get our daily-required vitamins and minerals. More Antioxidants= less Toxins
Multi Intense (without Iron for men)- Same as the above minus the Iron as men usually cover this in their diet and can cause liver damage with too much.

3- Uber Mag Px: Magnesium is similar to Zinc, as it assists with many functions of the human body including detoxification, better quality sleep, stable mood, muscle recovery and growth, healthy Testosterone levels, cardiovascular health and brain function.

4- Fish Oil EPA-DHA 720: Assists in detoxification, the increase in healthy fats helps with counteracting bad fats from fast food (they cause toxicity), helps with brain function and fat loss.

This is a topic that I’m really passionate about because whether or not you have fitness goals, this will impact you in some way and even if you don’t implement all the changes I have mentioned, even implementing 1 or 2 things means you are one step closer to a more healthy, less toxic body.

Post by Amy Freeman, a Strength and Conditioning Coach from New Zealand and currently a Personal Trainer at Inspire Pure Fitness in Kuwait.

If you’re going down to Lebanon next week for Eid then below is my personal recommendation list:

The Gärten by Uberhaus
They’re only open Saturday night from around 8PM to 6AM and it’s my favorite place this summer. It’s an outdoor club that’s open just for 16 weeks with a large green garden filled with bean bags on one side and a huge open dome which is the dance floor on the other. You need to pass by and if you’re flying out on the morning MEA flight just head from The Garten straight to the airport. The place is easy to find, its right at the entrance to Biel (near Skybar). Here’s a video I shot the last time I was there [Here]

Tawlet
This is a very popular and a great Lebanese restaurant. They bring a new chef daily (usually a grandma) from a different part of lebanon to cook home made food. (01-448129)

Radio Beirut
Arguably my favorite pub this summer located in Mar Mikhael. I don’t think I’ve ever sat inside since the sidewalk is where everyone hangs out and drinks.