Search: “ace”

Last night I was at The Avenues and decided to pass by the newly opened Pick. When I got there I walked up to the tiny 2 person line behind the cashier and waited for my turn. While waiting, I noticed a long queue on the left side of the place lined up behind another cashier. I realized it might be a one-line queue for two cashiers and that I might have been cutting the line. Or maybe the other people didn’t realize there was a second cashier?

I decided to leave Pick because the situation was confusing, but decided to message them on Instagram just out of curiosity to see if it was actually two separate lines, or one line with two cashiers. My exchange with them was so good I felt it was worth posting about.

Firstly, someone saw my DM right away, they then quickly responded to my question and were apologetic and admitted the situation was actually confusing. The whole conversation was so friendly and sincere, they made me an even bigger fan of the brand.

The situation made me realize again how amazing social media has become for communicating with brands, especially when you have a problem. I’ve DM’d brands a ton of times either to complain, give feedback, ask questions or even to try and cut through lines at clubs (Thank you @the.garten). Other than my internet provider I no longer contact brands any other way. When I had an issue with AVIS in the US I tried calling them on the phone and after spending an hour either on hold or trying to navigate their robotic call center, I decided to tweet them. I ended up getting a response back on twitter in less than 5 minutes! In Kuwait it’s been no different, other than the local Ikea and Jeep dealer (still waiting for a response guys), my experience with customer service on instagram has been pretty good so far. I love it.

The Kuwait Harps are starting a new season of Gaelic Football and are looking for new faces to join the club. Gaelic Football is a form of football derived from the Irish ball games. There are some major differences between regular football and Gaelic football like the fact Gaelic football is played with 15 players per team and you can also hold the ball with your hands.

The Kuwait Harps compete primarily in tournaments based in the Gulf region and new players are always welcome and immediately feel at home within the club. The majority of the current squad were actually new to Gaelic Games when they first arrived in Kuwait. While many clubs in the Gulf region can depend on a strong pool of Irish players, this is not the case in Kuwait. While a core of the club may be Irish, it relies heavily on the support of players from the international expat community. Kuwait Harps Players have come from Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Canada, USA, Australia and even Sudan to name but a few countries.

If you’re interested in joining the club, they’re holding taster days. Taster days are just for people to come along and see if they like the sport and want to join. It’s aimed at all abilities (both fitness and Gaelic wise) so anyone can come along and there is no reason to sign up. All you need to do is come out in your normal workout gear and bring some sunscreen, water and maybe a hat or sunglasses.

When: August 31st, 10AM to 12PM and September 5th, 5PM to 7PM
Where: GUST Univsersity [Map]

For more information email [email protected] or visit their [Facebook Page] or on instagram @kuwait_harps_gaa

Over the years Cinescape has gotten multiple of new logos with the last one being in 2014. My first impression, I don’t think I like it. I think my biggest issue with the new logo is that it’s two different logos slapped together to make one.

The red icon with KNCC written under it is the logo of the Kuwait National Cinema Company. Then you have the Cinescape wording with its unique typeface and sideways letter A “<" forming a secondary logo. In usage, they're either using the wording Cinescape with the KNCC icon combined as above, or they're using the < as their icon by itself. So they're flip-flopping between two icons constantly and that seems messy. I also see the shape < in two places, the first in the Cinescape wording and in the second in the red KNCC icon which makes it repetitive.

Their previous logo didn’t have the KNCC logo attached to it so not sure why they’ve attaching it now in this one. Personally, I think I might have preferred it simpler like in my mockup above. That way they can use the < as their icon when they want to and not have a secondary confusing icon next to the brand. I'm curious to see how the brand will develop over the next few months once all their theaters get the new facelift.

For non-coffee drinkers out there, you’ll be interested to know that a new matcha place has opened up in the downtown area, specifically on Coffee Boulevard. The matcha place is called Cha Matchacha and they’re describing themselves as the first matcha bar in Kuwait.

I haven’t tried them since I prefer coffee over matcha, but if you’re looking for a new non-coffee shop to try out, they’re located at the start of Coffee Boulevard, near Koi and Little Purple Door. Here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram is @cha_kw.

Have you guys been to the Tampopo ramen restaurant yet? I’ve been wanting to go back ever since I posted about them but I’ve just been waiting for the line to get smaller and it doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon.

The picture on top was taken by me last week while the picture above was taken by my brother yesterday. If you missed my post on the place, check it out [Here]

The Kind Ones is a local breakfast place located in Mangaf. I’ve never been to it because it’s so out of my way but I recently found out that they’re opening in LA. According to the website Eater LA, The Kind Ones is opening up in Beverly Hills this coming September. This would make them the second local restaurant after Rock House Sliders to open up in LA this year. Like RHS they’ll also have some pretty strong competition there so I’m curious to see how they’ll do.

The local Ferrari dealership is currently running a campaign this week on their Ferrari approved range of pre-owned cars. I passed by their showroom yesterday and they’ve basically removed all their new vehicles and replaced them with pre-owned Ferrari 488’s, Californias, FF’s and even the incredible GTC4Lusso I just recently test drove.

One of the biggest advantages of buying a Ferrari approved car other than getting an extra two years warranty is that the cars have to go through a 190+ point check by the dealership. Any issues that pop up during this check have to be repaired before being given the certification by Ferrari to be allowed to be sold to their customers. So you’re getting a car that’s basically new.

If you don’t have time to pass by the dealership, they have all their pre-owned cars uploaded online and you can check them out [Here]

Barakat is an old school store located in Salmiya that has been open since the early 80s. They sell supplies for knitting, crochet, embroidery, needlework, sewing, weaving, as well as hobby and crafting materials, and magazines relating to all these.

I thought they had closed down their old Salmiya location since they had opened a small shop in Al Bustan Mall, but turns out the original store is still alive and kicking.

I passed by with a friend the other night and it reminded me of when I was a kid and I would accompany my mum. When I was a kid I hated trips to Barakat since I used to get super bored, but now as an adult, I appreciate the place a lot more.

I was tempted to get something, so ended up leaving with a “My First Embroidery” kit of a cute cat. Since I’m always curious to try new things, I figured I could try embroidery for fun and this kit contained everything I needed to learn embroidery.

If you’ve never been to Barakat, you should pass by to check the place out especially if you’re looking for a new hobby to get into. They’re located on the first floor of a building near Beit Dickson Restaurant in Salmiya. Here is the building on [Google Maps]. They’re also on instagram @barakat_kuwait. If you do pass by, make sure you pick up some kunafa from Al Tibawi down the street before you leave the area.

Every year on the anniversary of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion, I like to share some links related to the war. The last two links are new this year, check them all out below:

Free Kuwait
This is a website that focuses on the campaign that was led by Kuwaitis in exile and is loaded with photos and information.

Kuwait Invasion – The Evidence
This is a website that contains over 1,200 pictures taken right after the 1990 invasion as photographic evidence to all the destruction caused by Iraq.

Short movie: Hearts of Palm
Hearts of Palm is a short movie set in August 2nd 1990 and deals with Kuwaiti students living in Miami Florida during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.

The Class of 1990
This is a short documentary about reuniting class mates years after the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

Homemade video from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
Video clips taken by a Kuwaiti family during the Iraqi invasion

Desert Storm Photos
Photos taken by soldiers during Desert Storm.

Short Animation: Sandarah
A captivating story based on true events that took place during the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

First Account of Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait
Interviews with various Kuwaitis that were in Kuwait during the 1990 invasion.

Iraqi Invasion Pictures
Photos of the Gulf War aftermath.

Politics of Wor
A tumblr account with some not so commonly seen photos from the Gulf War. (Warning some are graphic)

Magnum Photos
A gallery of images taken during the Gulf War by some great photographers. (Warning some are graphic)

Photos in this post are by Bruno Barbey

Is there a place other than Boccini at The Avenues that serves deep dish pizzas which I’m not aware of? Please don’t say Pizza Hut.

Three years ago I posted about how I plastidipped parts of my FJ Cruiser. Plastidip is non-permanent paint which you can just peel off to revert back to the original color. I had plastidipped various parts of my car and the paint had survived pretty well except on my wheels where it started to peel off (pictured below) and look gross. I needed to get my wheels permanently painted but that meant I had to find a paint shop and then keep the car with them for a few days which I didn’t have time for.

Then, last week, I found out a friend of mine started a new business called Dr Dent. He sent me the profile over instagram and I half-jokingly told him what I was interested in was a service where they could come take my FJ wheels, get them painted and then drop them back off to me. My friend told me that was a service they actually offered and it would be done at my place without having to take the wheels away. After a bit of back and forth of me trying to confirm I had understood him correctly, I called them up and booked an appointment.

Dr Dent offer a number of services that include dent, windshield and wheel repair, as well as wheel painting. They came over in their large van which has a built-in paint shop and started work right away. They first took off the wheels from my car, prepped them by removing the old plastidip, and then cleaned them up before taking the wheels one at a time into their paint booth to get painted. I had requested ahead of time to get the wheels painted in the Toyota TRD bronze color, so they got the paint code and mixed the paint for me before coming over.

It was incredibly convenient, I just gave the guys my car keys, got into my Lotus and headed to Avenues to do some shopping while they worked on my car.

The cost of this service varies from car to car depending on the size of the wheel and if there is any damage (like deep scratches from swiping a curb) that need to be fixed but the maximum it would cost to repair or/and paint a wheel is KD50. So if you’re looking for a convenient way to get your wheels painted or repaired, you can check Dr Dent out on instagram @drdentkw

In case you’re curious about the cost of repairing a water damaged iPhone X at an authorized dealer, here is what I found out when I took mine to Digits.

– They opened my phone to find the interior still wet even though I had my phone in a bowl of rice for three days. They dried out the interior and put the phone back together, the cost of that was KD10.

– My rear cameras were still fogged up. Because the camera assembly is enclosed they can’t open it up themselves to dry it out. The solution they offered me was to replace the whole camera assembly which costs KD55. I decided not to do that.

– My front facing camera was working perfectly now (not foggy anymore) but Face ID was still disabled in the settings with no way to turn it back on. According to support if the problem didn’t resolve itself, then the only way to fix it would be to replace the internal phone board. That isn’t something Apple does instead what they do is allow you to swap your damaged phone for a brand new one. The cost of that? 230KD. For a phone that’s badly damaged, I can see that being worthwhile but not in my situation.

Anyway I took the phone home and dumped it into telephone rice again. By evening time the rear cameras were no longer fogged up but Face ID still didn’t work. I’m just gonna keep it in rice for a few more days and if Face ID still doesn’t work I’ll just use the phone without it.

Until just recently, if you wanted good ramen in Kuwait you were basically out of luck. There weren’t many places that had ramen and the places that did usually had a pretty average bowl. But, last week a new ramen place opened up in Kuwait called Tampopo and it’s great!

The chef behind Tampopo is Maryam Alnusif (or Mimi), many of you might have heard of her since she is behind Shakshooka and The Secret Garden project. Tampopo is actually right next to the Secret Garden, it’s a small place with a main seating area composed of a bar running along the kitchen counter, as well as a bar facing the opposite wall and another bar stretching across the main storefront window. The menu is extremely simple with just three ramen dishes to choose from: Chicken, duck and vegan ramen. They also have a few cocktails and surprisingly, really great tasting non-alcholic Japanese Asahi beer.

I was there with some friends and so we ordered one of everything. My favorite ramen bowl was the vegan one followed by the duck and then the chicken. Because we got there early at around 6:30PM, we managed to find seating, but by the time we were done with our bowls, the place was already packed with people waiting to be seated. I loved the food, the atmosphere and all the people behind Tampopo so I’m definitely going back again this week. Plus its walking distance from my home which is pretty convenient.

Because Tampopo is still in a soft launch phase, they’re only open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 6PM to 10PM. But, starting next week they might start opening on Mondays as well. They also right now only accept cash but should start accepting knet next week. For a map of the location and to stay up to date on their store timings, check out their instagram page @tampopo.ramenshop

So last week there was a case of mass food poisoning in Kuwait because of a falafel restaurant in Hawalli. Supposedly the former partner of the restaurant conspired with an employee to poison the falafel and today Kuwait Times mentions they found the food to be contaminated with salmonella and other types of bacteria. Around 300 customers got food poisoned and yet none of the newspapers or news outlets have mentioned which restaurant had their food contaminated (at least none of the English outlets). I really don’t understand why news media continue to shy away from posting the name of the restaurant especially in a case like this where many other people might be infected and not know they are.

When there was an E. coli outbreak at Chipotle in the States, all the news outlets wrote about it, but if the same outbreak had taken place in Kuwait they’d probably just describe Chipotle as an American franchise.