2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

As far as the regular Uber cars (a.k.a. uberX) the experience in London can be mostly described as no frills. The driver takes you from A to B and you’re done. A few drivers from a certain ethnic background try to cheat the system. The platform is designed in a way that the driver doesn’t know the destination until he starts the trip. To avoid accepting a short trip that won’t make them a lot of money, some drivers call you to ask about where you’re going or falsely start the trip on the system and either way if they don’t like it, they’ll cancel or worse ask you to cancel because they’re “stuck on the road”. According to Uber rules, if you cancel the request when the car is less than five minutes away from you, you’re charged £5.00. Of course, I complain through the app and within minutes they apologise in an email and refund me. Not that much of a pleasant experience, and that’s in London. Strange enough, the driver’s attitude in New York is much better.

I don’t claim to know how Uber will legally operate in Kuwait – that’s if they manage to make it happen. However, if they open the door to individuals as they do elsewhere I am concerned about the quality of the experience customers will have. The Kuwaiti market suffers a great deal from poor customer experiences caused by both sides: untrained and/or unfriendly staff and rude or unresponsive customers. I know I’m generalising but this is the mainstream scene. With immature consumer behaviour and a lack of professionalism from drivers who feel empowered to treat you anyway they like when they’re hiding behind the app’s platform the experience can be rigged or ruined in spite of regulations. That being said, Uber claims to be strict with drivers who receive poor ratings. Regardless of the business model Uber chooses, it would be better for the Kuwaiti market if Uber offers existing taxi companies to join their system conditional to following strict regulations that can be monitored. At least, we’ll have less horn-honking on the streets from taxis trying to get the attention of people walking by. This week’s tip: Expanding from one location to another is a sound move, if and only if, you can consistently maintain the standards of operation everywhere.

Post by Loaay Ahmed, a strategic business therapist since 1995. He currently lives and works in London, UK, while earning his master’s in Service Design Innovation, and managing knightscapital in Kuwait. For Loaay’s advice on business or work matters, send a short email to [email protected]. Regrettably, only the questions chosen for publishing will be answered.

We take our hobbies seriously. [YouTube]

With the release of Star Wars Force Awaken, a lot of new Star Wars merchandise has gone on sale like clothing, Lego’s (the Millennium Falcon is KD170!), new figurines and now a new addition, the Sphero BB-8. Being a big Star Wars I’m pretty much on cloud nine. Not only was The Force Awakens a great movie, the new toys look great and even the clothing isn’t bad at all. So I was excited to test out the BB-8 and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked.

So what’s so cool about the Sphero BB-8? You can control it using your smartphone and it’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices so no one is left out. This little guy can move fast and can take a beating. When I first tested it out, the first thing that popped into my head was that BB-8 would make a great (albeit expensive) toy for my cat. It was impressive watching it speed across the floor especially that the BB-8’s head is attached to the body using a magnet and two little wheels so it stays in place while the rest of the body rolls. It has barely fallen off, even as I’ve hit the wall multiple times and the legs of chairs. The body itself has an “upright” position that corrects itself with the help of the stabilizers that are part of the internal mechanism. There’s also a gyroscope and accelerometer that will assist in controlling BB-8 by being aware of its movements and make subtle and slight adjustments to help you out.

If you get tired of controlling it you can set it to patrol mode. Patrol mode works similar to the way a Roomba does. The BB-8 will roam around your room on its own and will move around objects, like chair legs or people. What’s cool is that there is an event log that that lets you know if BB-8 hit a wall or detected an object.

The price tag for the BB-8 is steep, it costs KD69. Ultimately, this is a cool piece of tech, but it’s not something I would play with everyday. Right now I have it on my shelf next to my Samus figurine and my Super Mario Amiibo and sometimes I’ll tease my cat with it once in a while, but at the end of the day it’s a glorified figurine. House guests will find it impressive and it makes for an interesting topic of discussion. I love the BB-8 and it’s unique in a world of cheap toys. It’s a Star Wars toy that can be enjoyed by kids and adults.

If you’re interested in the Sphero BB-8, it’s available at the Avenue’s branch of Fantasy World which has a new section catered towards adults called THE EDGE. Fantasy World also has the largest collection of Star Wars toys that I’ve seen in Kuwait so far, including nice figurines of Kylo Ren, Finn and Rey.

Post by Patrick

Full Disclosure: The Sphero BB-8 was provided by Fantasy World to review on the blog.

A reader emailed me a few days ago letting me know they had found another Korean supermarket in Kuwait. According to the reader they were trying to find danmuji so they went to Singarea Supermarket and couldn’t find it there. So they asked their favorite Korean restaurant if they knew where they could get it from and they were told about another Korean supermarket in Shuwaikh called Ginza Market. So I passed by over the weekend to check it out. The store is small and seems to be catered more to restaurants than consumers since I was offered a list of all their items to keep with me in case I needed to order anything. But as a consumer you can also pick up whatever you want from their shelves. They’re open from 8AM to 8PM and their phone number is 22205091. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

While looking for Ginza Market I also ended up finding a Chinese Supermarket called Chinese Food House. It’s located in the same building block as Ginza and the store specializes in food products imported directly from China. I couldn’t figure out what they had since everything was written in Chinese but I did find some odd items like century eggs and salt baked chicken feet. They’re open from 8AM to 5PM and their phone number is 97533702. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

Both those stores have very friendly and helpful staff so don’t be afraid to ask them newbie questions.

Update: Ginza Supermarket has moved and the Google Maps link above has been updated.

Infamous Kuwaiti rapper Big D retired earlier this year with a pretty odd resignation letter. The main reason he left music was because he started believing music was a sin and that the rap industry as a whole were advocates of the Devil. I guess he no longer believes that because he’s back out of retirement with a new video. Sadly it’s a pretty boring video, he really should go back and get the guy who produced my favorite video of his that had the trashy looking girls drinking fake wine. At least that was entertaining to watch even if you didn’t like his music.

As I think of topics to write I always aim to do one thing, and that is to provide you with information to help you make your own decisions. We are all under the assumption that nutritional guidelines can be applied on anyone, not realizing that food is not a one-size-fits-all deal. Many things that work with one person might not necessarily work for you, we all have different bodies, different lifestyles, and different needs. Today I want to give you some information to help you decide whether or not juicing is for you!

Let’s take a look at the facts:

Juicing is a great way to get in good amounts of fruits and vegetables in your diet.

Juicing does NOT cleanse your body.

Juicing is NOT better than eating a whole fruit or vegetable.

I know many of you think of juicing as a way to cleanse the body (detox), but I only think of it as a great way to supplement with fruits and vegetables if and only if you do not consume enough fruits and vegetables throughout the day. There are many times where I find myself too lazy to make a salad – and that is when ill opt for a green juice. You should not rely on juicing for better health and definitely not for weight loss.

There are key points you need to keep in mind when creating or purchasing your green juice. Firstly, when thinking of juices you should focus on green juices! You should add in lots of green leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, parsley, radish greens, lettuce) and always limit your fruits to 1-2 portions. Fruits can easily add in a lot of calories, and I personally think the worst thing you can do when you are trying to limit your caloric intake is drinking them! Drinking your calories just isn’t as filling and you can sometimes be taking in more calories than expected. Other vegetables can be used in a juice to enhance the flavour (beetroot, cucumbers, lemons, limes, celery) and they don’t provide as many calories as fruits do.

My personal favourite green juice ingredients include:

A bunch of parsley

4 leaves of Kale or a bunch of spinach (depending on what I have on hand)

1 lemon

1 apple

1 inch ginger

2 small cucumbers

Green juices can last from 48-72 hours in the fridge, but to get the most health benefits it’s best to drink up immediately! You can use a blender or preferably a cold-pressed juicer. The cold-pressed juicers don’t heat up, therefore many of the enzymes and vitamins in the fruits and veggies are not destroyed by heat., giving you that extra health boost. Whether you choose to juice or not, always remember that there is nothing you can do better for your health than eating your fruits and veggies! We all need the extra fiber.

Post by Hyatt Al Sayegh, a Clinical Dietitian and Dr. Sears Health Coach.
Founder of Fork Fed.

Image Source

One of the things that got me excited about checking out The Burrow Life gym was their teaser photos and videos which they shared on their instagram account. They set a very trendy tone to the gym and because the production of their photos and videos were so good I just assumed they had gotten them done outside of Kuwait. Then last week I found out from a friend that all their photos and videos were shot locally by a small production house called Blank Production.

Since it turns out their office was in the same building as mine, I passed by awhile ago to meet up with them and check out their work. They’ve only been around for three months now but already from their small portfolio it’s obvious they’re super talented. You can watch their showreel above or check out their website with more of their work [Here]

A few months ago someone from Midas left a comment under an old Herman Miller post I had. Turns out Midas had become Herman Miller dealers and the reader told me I could have a chair if I wanted one. I didn’t need a chair back then so I just never got back to him. Then a few weeks ago, I decided I needed a new chair for my office. I got in touch with Midas and made a deal where I’d pick up a Herman Miller chair and in return give them banner space on the blog.

Unintentionally, I ended up trying two different Herman Miller chairs, the Mirra 2 (pictured on the left) and the Aeron (pictured on the right. When I was originally deciding between the two I couldn’t really find a decent comparison so I figured I’d post my opinion on both in case anyone is ever googling a review.

The Aeron is a classic and has remained mostly unchanged since it was introduced in the late 90s. It was first popularized in Silicon Valley during the dot-com boom and is even featured in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection. The chair has a lot of history but when I first chose a chair I opted for the Mirra 2 mostly because it was one of the newer Herman Miller models and also because the color they had available (the teal) would work well with my office.

I used the Mirra 2 for two weeks and I honestly couldn’t get it setup to where I felt comfortable sitting on it for more than a couple of hours. With the Mirra 2 everything was adjustable from the height of the armrests to the length of the seat, lots of little knobs everywhere to help you personalize the seat for you. Maybe I was just never able to set it up properly and so I never got around to being comfortable in it. Then my office got a makeover and the teal colored Mira 2 no longer fit in with my furniture. So I got in touch with Midas and asked them if I could swap the chair with a black Aeron which they accepted.

The Aeron surprisingly had less customizable features when compared to the Mirra 2 but yet I felt a lot more comfortable in it right away. Setting it up was easier, quicker and the whole experience was less complicated. It’s been over two weeks with the chair now and I love it. According to my contact at Midas, women tend to feel more comfortable in the Mirra 2 while men prefer the Aeron so maybe thats why I also preferred the Aeron.

Price wise, you can pick up the Aeron for KD250 while the fully loaded Mirra 2 costs KD295. To get those prices though ask for Ed or printout this post and take it with you. That puts the Aeron around KD40 cheaper than the price on Amazon while the Mirra 2 around KD10 more expensive. If you’re interested in getting one, here is the Midas office furniture location on [Google Maps]

Earlier this year I posted about how the Bayan Palace now has a Botanical Garden. Supposedly the gardens are open to the public on Thursdays after 4PM but you’re required to get permission to visit them. Does anyone have more details on this or know how to get permission?

The other day while at KIPCO tower I spotted a books donation box by an organization called Raqsh. Turns out they collect unwanted books and then send them to small scale societies such as refugee camps. Right now they only have this one donation box located at KIPCO but they’re looking to set up more of them around Kuwait. For more information on the organization, here is a link to their [Website]

Dizly is a locally produced app that allows you to buy and send a variety of gifts to people. I’ve had the app for awhile now but they’ve recently made some changes to it that have improved the experience dramatically with the most important change being that you no longer needed to create an account just so you could browse the products.

Since Christmas is in a few days I figured now would be the best time to post about the app. They’ve also given me a promo code “Diz248am” to share with my readers which will give you a 15% discount on all the items. The app is available on iOS and Android and you can check out their website for more details [Here]

This video was uploaded back in April but I just saw it now. It looks ginormous. The new hospital should be completed by 2018. [YouTube]

Thanks lovelykuwait

Last week I decided I wanted some of my car parts foiled matt black. Foiling is a process where your car gets covered in a sticker like material, it’s an alternative to painting since its temporary. My FJ Cruiser had some grey colored parts which I wanted to turn black but I didn’t want to paint them incase I didn’t like the outcome. So I called a friend asking for a good foiling place and he instead recommended I get the parts Plasti Dipped at a place in Shuwaikh called Ma-Fra.

Plasti Dip falls somewhere in between painting and foiling since it has traits from both. You apply Plasti Dip to your car like paint (as in you spray it), but unlike paint, when you get bored you can peel Plasti Dip off like a sticker just as you would with foiling.

I passed by Ma-Fra on Thursday and got an appointment for Saturday morning. I had also gotten some new silver colored wheels for my car which I wanted to paint in bronze so I decided to get them Plasti Dipped as well. When dropping my car off at Ma-Fra on Saturday I found out they did detailing so had them go ahead and detail my car as well since I was planning on doing that anyway somewhere else.

Plasti Dip is fairly durable as long as you don’t scratch it or peel it off. It’s supposed to last for at least three years although I’m not sure they’ll last that long on my wheels. So how did it turn out?

I dropped my car off Saturday at 9AM and ended up picking up the car the next day at 2PM all painted and shiny. If it wasn’t for the detailing I would have been able to pick up the car on the same day, that’s whats to great about Plasti Dip, it’s fast to do. The parts I blacked out turned out great and blended really well with the rest of the black plastic parts on the car. The wheels also turned out better than I expected.

If you’re wondering how much it cost, I ended up paying KD150 for everything. Originally they wanted KD60 to paint the 9 different parts of my car black, KD50 to paint the wheels (KD10 per wheel) and another KD60 for the detailing. So I basically got a KD20 discount. They also sell cans of Plasti Dip for KD4 a pop if you’re interested to do the work yourself (it’s fairly easy but the masking process is a pain).

Ma-Fra is located in Shuwaikh behind Abyat, here is their location on [Google Maps]

Did Kuwait Airways just scrap an entire flight service to avoid carrying Israeli passengers?

The airline has this week pulled its connection between New York’s JFK airport and London Heathrow after U.S. authorities threatened legal action over alleged discrimination.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in September warned the Kuwaiti carrier that it had “unlawfully discriminated” against a passenger using an Israeli passport by refusing to sell him a ticket.

It sent a letter giving the airline 15 days to outline how it would in the future comply with anti-discrimination laws.

Kuwait Airways response, according to the DOT, appears to have been to drop its London-New York route. [Source]

I guess that’s a quick easy fix.

Friday brunches are usually reserved for Cocoa Room but on Saturdays I like to go to other places. Recently it’s mostly been Street (their egg and shroom bao is a killer) but last week while having dinner at ORA I found out they had a brunch menu on Saturdays. So I passed by a couple of days back to try it out.

Their brunch menu really only has 3 or 4 breakfast items with the rest being mostly dishes you could have for lunch or dinner. That’s not a bad thing but if you’re expecting a bunch of intricate breakfast items cooked up by their talented Chef Tiger, you’d be disappointed.

I ended up ordering the Short Rib Eggs Benedict to start with, and then a Steak & Egg Donburi to share with friends followed by French Toast & Banana Tempura for dessert. The steak & egg was easily my favorite, the eggs Benedict was also really good except the hollandaise sauce was cold which made the whole dish seem like it was cold. Finally I didn’t like the french toast but thats because I didn’t read the description of the dish properly and turns out it had peanut butter and I hate peanut butter.

Overall not a bad option for a Saturday brunch although I do hope they add more “breakfasty” options to the menu. They open at 11AM and brunch is served till 2PM. If you’ve never been to ORA before click [Here]