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It’s a long weekend filled with events so hopefully, it won’t rain this weekend. Check out all the events taking place below:

Thursday
43rd International Book Fair
49th Palestinian Cultural Exhibition
Italian Vehicles & Motorcycle Exhibition
PLAMO CON
Thanksgiving BBQ
Fall Festival – Art & Music in the Yard

Friday
43rd International Book Fair
Italian Vehicles & Motorcycle Exhibition
PLAMO CON
Festive Open House
Hello Winter

Saturday
43rd International Book Fair
Italian Vehicles & Motorcycle Exhibition
Guided Tour: Old Kuwait City Tour
Wejha Arts Open Day
ArtSpace Pop-up
Concert: Suad Massi

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

The Avenues are having a Black Friday weekend except they’re calling it a shopping marathon with over 180 stores and restaurants offering various discounts. It’s taking place from Thursday 22nd till Saturday 24th and you can download the full list of places participating as well as the offers they will have by clicking [Here]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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A post shared by KUWAIT UPTO DATE (@kuwaitup2date) on Nov 9, 2018 at 9:29am PST

I was on the Kuwait sub on reddit and people were talking about the floods in Kuwait. I had no idea what they were talking about since I’ve been home all day so I popped open @kuwaitup2date and turns out Fahaheel got flooded earlier this evening from the rain. No idea how it happened but it’s horrible, it’s a legit flood.

They’re saying the weather is going to get worse so I decided not to risk it and moved my Lotus to a multistory lot next to my house so it would be parked a floor above ground. Although my building’s basement has never flooded, after watching the videos from Fahaheel I’m not risking it.

If you’re curious to know what has been happening in Fahaheel, check out @kuwaitup2date since he’s been posting a lot of videos.

Carriage updated their app today bringing with it two major changes:

1) The app no longer plays a video on launch
2) The app now saves your credit card details

The video on launch was super annoying so glad they got rid of it. The second update, on the other hand, is a pretty big one. If you go to your profile settings you can now add your credit card to the app. This also works with Knet even though the app will treat it as a Visa card. You add your Knet card to the app and when checking out, choose credit card as your payment method. If you added your card correctly, you should get a small pop up asking you to select the card you want to use to place your order. No more having to type out your card number again.

With Deliveroo launching really soon I’m guessing we’ll be seeing a bunch of new features and possibly promotions and an updated pricing system from Carriage. Should be fun!

PEKO PEKO is a new restaurant that opened up this past weekend and it’s one I had been waiting to open for a few months now. That’s because PEKO PEKO used to be called RAW before they closed down this past Ramadan for renovations. RAW was one of my favorite sushi places and so I was disappointed they had closed down but also curious to see what they were going to open up instead. The chef is the very talented Abdullah AlYaqout so I knew whatever he was cooking up was going to be interesting.

While RAW was a purely Japanese eatery, PEKO PEKO is a Japanese eatery but with East Asian influences. What this means is you’ll find more than just your typical sushi on the menu. With so many sushi places in Kuwait and some really good ones, they probably realized that they had to do something different to stick out and I think they did a pretty good job based on what I tried. The menu I had was the tasting menu and so was fairly limited and didn’t include the prices, but I pretty much liked 8 out of the 10 or so dishes I tried.

I’ll be heading back there this week again to try their full menu and maybe post about the place properly, but for now, if you’re looking for a new restaurant to try then check them out. They’re in their soft launch phase so they’re currently open only from 6PM to 10PM (but daily). For pictures and a link to their location, check out their instagram @eatpekopeko

The music streaming service Spotify is now officially available for Kuwait and the Middle East. Previously to get Spotify to work in Kuwait you needed to go through a VPN to create an account and then use a US credit card or gift voucher to get the premium features to work.

Signing up is currently invite-only, but you could request an invite by clicking [Here]

Update: Looks like they’ve temporarily disabled the invites so the signup link might not work for you.

Update2: They’ve disabled the invite form completely and Spotify also contacted me to let me know the following:

Spotify’s ultimate goal is to be available in every country. We know how passionate music fans are in MENA, so we are looking forward to launching there soon, and connecting artists and fans across the region. Watch this space…

Update 3: Spotify is now active in Kuwait and no invite is needed. You can sign up for a free account or a premium account which is just $4.99, that’s cheaper than the US version.

My favorite local band Galaxy Juice released a new music video last week called Pantagonia. It’s a track from their upcoming EP and like all their previous music videos, it’s pretty weird and trippy so check it out above.

If you like their music you can follow them on [Instagram] [Twitter] or [Facebook]

Below is a list of this weekends events. There also is a rallycross event taking place at 1:30PM today at Kuwait Motor Town. I don’t have it listed below because I don’t have much more details on this. Check out this weekends list of events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Memory of Peru
The Divan’s Movie Night – Moon
Japanese Short Movie Night

Friday
Exhibition: Memory of Peru
Saracen Race 2018
Battle of the East 2018

Saturday
Exhibition: Memory of Peru
Battle of the East 2018
Madeenah Tour: Places of Unlearning
Music Festival: NNF First Anniversary
Shinsawi: Doggie Meetup
COMMUNITY COLLAB. 03

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

I don’t know why it took so long but we finally have a dedicated cheese shop in Kuwait! La Maison Du Fromage is a new store that just opened up and specializes in everything cheese. Right now they have over 60 different kinds of cheeses but they’re expecting 40 more kinds to arrive soon with the majority not available in supermarkets.

The store is pretty cute but they’re still in their soft launch stage so they’re still stocking up on their products. They will soon have cold cuts, caviar, truffle and truffle oils as well as kitchen tools for cheese. Basically, they’ll be carrying everything you expect a cheese store to carry except for the wine.

La Maison Du Fromage is located in Salmiya near Gia. Their instagram account is @lmdfkw and will be active soon. If you want to check the place out they’re open from 10AM to 10PM and here is their location on [Google Maps]