Categories
Apple Apps

Local Phone Apps I Use

iphone6-2

Someone suggested I put together a list of all the local apps I use so I’ve listed them below. Any local app I should be using which isn’t on the list? Let me know!

NBK: They’re my bank and so I don’t have an option except to use their app but it’s actually a pretty good one. Quick to login with just my fingerprint, the app looks good and I can perform all my banking from within it. The only thing I can’t do is add new beneficiaries for money transfers. I still need to login to their website and add it from there the old fashioned way.

Talabat: Not a big fan of talabat, not a big fan of their app either. I literally have it installed and use it just so I could order from CHKN. That’s it.

Carriage: Although they charge a KD1 delivery charge, it’s the only way to order from some of my favorite places like JOA and DOH! Plus you can track the status of your order and watch the delivery guy get lost on your way to your house via GPS tracking.

MyFatoorah: I use this app to invoice clients and sometimes friends. Easier than having people add me as a beneficiary to their bank account, they can just transfer money to me by paying me with Knet.

Xcite: I don’t use the app to shop from, but more as tool whenever I am trying to find out the price of an item locally.

4Sale: Worst app design but also the only way to access the best classifieds website in Kuwait. I tend to just use it to flip through the cars category always looking for something interesting on sale.

Klean: It’s a laundry service app but they also clean sneakers so I only tend to use this app when I need my sneakers cleaned.

Alive Yoga: Since I’m a member at Alive, I use the app to check the schedule of classes and to sign up. It’s pretty good plus once you sign up, the app can add your class to your phone calendar so you don’t forget.

Other Notable Mentions:

SnappCard: Used to be one of my favorite apps but after their last update, they now force you to review your previous order before you can use the app again. Imagine if Talabat did this, forced you to review a restaurant every time after placing an order and not allowing you to use the app until you do. I deleted the app obviously.

Burgan Bank: Also my bank, terrible app, looks like something from the 90s. Very limited with what I can do in the app but thankfully they recently added fingerprint login and so one positive thing about it.

Go Tap: I used to use this app to buy iTunes cards from before I connected my iTunes account directly to my US credit card.

iBadala: A phone directory app, rarely use it anymore since I just google things but it’s still on my phone just in case.




Categories
Activities Things to do

Laser Tag in Kuwait

Yesterday someone asked me if there was a laser tag place in Kuwait and figured other people might be interested to know that there is. The place is called Desert Sniper and they’re located right next to The Avenues. You need to be at least 4 people to play laser tag but a friend who tried it out told me having 10 people is a lot more fun.

If you don’t know what laser tag is, it’s kinda like paint ball except using lasers. When you get hit you light up and a vest vibrates letting you know you’ve been hit. It’s a lot less painful than getting hit by a paintball. The cost per round is KD6 and each round is 10 minutes long. The second round is also KD6 but after the second round the price goes down to KD3 per round. You also need to call them and book your session in advance.

So if you’re interested in laser tagging, you can check out the Desert Sniper [Website] for more details or call them up on 97828080




Categories
Apple

My Current Favorite iPhone Repair Shop

Every so often something happens to my iPhone and I end up having to head to Hawalli to get it repaired. For the past two years I’ve been going to a place called U.S. Workshop and I didn’t really think they were that special, until recently. A couple of weeks ago I broke my iPhone screen again but this time I really wasn’t in the mood to drive to Hawalli, so I called up FixAid and had them come over and replace my screen at home. When the repair guy handed me the phone, the color tone of my screen was very blue, but I thought maybe it was just my eyes getting adjusted to a crackless screen. Then for the next couple of days the touch screen was being weird and unresponsive. Since they have a 10 day warranty period, I took the phone back to FixAid and explained to them the problem. We tried another screen on and ended up facing a similar issue with the screen color so I told them I didn’t want it anymore and they were professional enough to refund me the money minus a service charge.

I took the cash and headed to U.S. Workshop in Hawalli. They always ask you what kind of quality screen you want to replace it with, the low quality for KD20 or the high quality KD30 screen? (I have an iPhone 6s). I went with the KD30 screen which is basically identical to the original iPhone screen color tone wise and responsiveness. Once I got my phone back and realized it was perfect again I told them how I used a home service because I didn’t want to drive down to Hawalli all the time. Thats when I found out they also offer home service as well for an extra KD5 charge. So, below are the details in case you ever need an iPhone/iPad repair shop.

Location: Bin Khaldoun Street, around 3 buildings after Blink, inside the building before KFH. There are some steep steps you climb up to get into the building, thats how you’ll recognize it. [Google Maps]

Telephone: 22610042




Categories
Movies

Movies Now Showing in Kuwait

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

New This Week:
Barbie Video Game Hero (5.0)
Collide (5.7) ♦
Life (7.8)
Power Rangers (7.1)

Other Movies Showing:
Don’t Knock Twice (5.3)
Kong: Skull Island (7.6)
Logan (9.0) ♦
Sleepless (5.5)
The LEGO Batman Movie (8.1)
Vengeance: A Love Story (N/A)

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough (7.6)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D (N/A)
Journey to Space 3D (6.5)
Kenya 3D: Animal Kingdom (6.0)
Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D (7.5)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.




Categories
Events Things to do

Things to do in Kuwait this Weekend

Weather is great and so lots of outdoor events are taking place this weekend. Check out all the things to do below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Third Identity
Exhibition: Road to Black
Pop-up: Filipo the Filipino
Taste of Q8
Q8 Readers Book Club
The Divan’s Movie Night: Black Mirror – Nosedive

Friday
Taste of Q8
Boubyan Fun Day
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup

Saturday
Taste of Q8
Boubyan Fun Day
Fun Run
Guided Tour: Liberation Tower
Yoga with the 3
The Rascal Race
KTAA Spring Bazaar at Sadu House
First RBK Spring Fayre
Karate Kenshinkan & Kung-Fu Sanda
Shakshooka at Dar Hamad
GIS Carnival
ATIS Spring Fest

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.




Categories
Movies

Movies Now Showing in Kuwait

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

New This Week:
A United Kingdom (6.7) ♦
Beauty and the Beast (6.1)
Sleepless (5.5)
Vengeance: A Love Story (N/A)

Other Movies Showing:
A Dog’s Purpose (4.8)
Don’t Knock Twice (5.3)
Hidden Figures (7.9)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (9.4)
Kikoriki. Legend of the Golden Dragon (6.1)
Kong: Skull Island (7.6)
Kung-Fu Yoga (6.2)
Logan (9.0) ♦
Rings (4.6)
Split (7.5) ♦
The Devil’s Dolls (4.3)
The LEGO Batman Movie (8.1)

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough (7.6)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D (N/A)
Journey to Space 3D (6.5)
Kenya 3D: Animal Kingdom (6.0)
Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D (7.5)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.




Categories
Food & Drinks

Filipo The Filipino Pop-up

After a slight change of plans, the Filipo The Filipino pop-up event is going to take place tonight and tomorrow night. The menu will be comprised of contemporary dishes that have been injected with some Filipino soul, so should be interesting experience. The event will be taking place in a warehouse in Shuwaikh so if you want more details, click [Here]




Categories
Fitness Sports

List of Gyms Dedicated to One Sport

I noticed recently more and more gyms are opening up focusing on just one sport so decided to list all the ones I am aware of. If you think a certain gym needs to be on this list then let me know in the comments below.

The next step is for someone to come up with a membership plan that gives people access to a bunch of these gyms.

Combat
Combat Athletics
Sidekick Academy
The Hook
Vikings MMA

Crossfit
Circuit+
CrossFit Euphoria
Crossfit FDT
Crossfit Flare
CrossFit Q8
Desert Fitness
Microgym
Neon Fitness

Pilates
Arc

Spinning
Lyfe Cycle
Ryde

Yoga
Alive
Daratma
P5M
The Yoga Center

Other
20 Seven EMS Training
B10 SURF Fitness




Categories
Reviews Video Games

Gaming Review: Sony Playstation VR

Virtual Reality has been something people have been dreaming of for as long as I remember and it feels like in the past few years, VR has been pushed hard with the likes of Oculus, the HTC Vive, and to some extent Microsoft’s Hololens. What makes the PlayStation VR (PSVR) special though is that it doesn’t require a powerful computer, it’s priced reasonably well and it’s relatively simple to set up without needing you to tinker too much with the settings. So it was easy to take up X-Cite’s offer to send my brother and I a PSVR to test out and write about.

The PSVR headset looks good, the build quality doesn’t feel cheap and its comfortable once you wear it. On the other hand the amount of cables it takes to set it up is unfortunate. This isn’t something you’ll leave lying around once you’re done using it for the night (unless you don’t mind clutter). As someone who is married and has three cats I have to pack it away every time I’m done using it. The reason for this clutter is that the PSVR doesn’t plug straight into the PS4. A processor box is included with the PSVR that includes an HDMI splitter, so you have thick cable running from the headset to this processor box, an HDMI cable from the PS4 into the processor box, another HDMI cable from the processor box to your TV, a USB cable from the processor box to the PS4 and a separate power cable into the processor. Oh and that doesn’t include the Playstation Camera cable which you also need for the PSVR.

Clutter aside, I was excited to try out the PSVR. I had a little bit of experience with the Oculus so I know how cool VR can be. I played a couple of games using the PSVR, Batman: Arkham VR, Driveclub VR, Rez Infinite, the Call of Duty: Jackal Assault VR, Super Hypercube and some games on the demo disc that came bundled with the headset. One thing you have to get used to when using the PSVR is that the visuals aren’t as crisp as what you’d get on your TV, there’s an annoying fuzziness that you’ll notice in most games and in some cases, games blur things in your peripherals (Batman suffers from this).

A concern I had was motion sickness and nausea. I have a sensitive stomach and I tend to get motion sickness quite easily and so was expecting to get sick playing Driveclub VR, Eve Valkyrie or Call of Duty Jackal Assault. Surprisingly though I didn’t suffer from motion sickness in any of the games I tried. Mark on the other hand got motion sickness ten minutes into Resident Evil 7 and then got motion sickness again a minute into his first race in Driveclub VR. This is something you should take into consideration before spending money on VR so find a place to try it out before you buy it.




Categories
Food & Drinks

Corny’s Smashed Lemonade & Corndogs

Over the weekend I got to try Corny’s smashed lemonade and corndogs over at the baseball tournament and damn they were good. Corny’s Smashed Lemonade and Corny’s Corndogs both belong to Josh who also has Corny’s Shaved Ice. He just recently started serving lemonades and its by far my favorite lemonade in Kuwait.

Watching Josh make the lemonade is pretty entertaining since he has a cool contraption a friend of his created for him that smashes the fresh lemons in front of you before he adds ice, sugar and water to it. He serves the lemonade in a huge 32oz cup which means you’ll be drinking nearly a liter of lemonade. Even though that’s a lot I was still tempted to get a second serving after I was done with my first one. And then the corndog, it was so good that I was already planning to order my second serving while I was still midway through the first.

A post shared by Corny's Smashed Lemonade™ 🍋🔨🍋🔨 (@cornyssmashedlemonade) on

You can watch Josh make lemonade in the entertaining video above which he posted on instagram. He used to work in real estate hence the great sales presentation. Josh pops up at random events with his concepts so you can follow him on instagram to find out where he’ll be next if you want to try one of his products. His instagram accounts are:

@cornyssmashedlemonade
@cornysshavedice
@thecornycanine




Categories
Events Things to do

Things to do in Kuwait this Weekend

The Kuwait Baseball Softball Challenger League Tournament is taking place this weekend, so if you want to feel like you’re at a softball game in the US for a few hours then you have to check it out. Corny’s Smashed Lemonade is also going to be there, and after watching his video on how he makes his lemonade, I definitely need to try it out. On Saturday there is also the Bark in the Park event taking place. I’m gonna be judging again this year which is always a lot fun. Anyway, check out the full list of events for this weekend below:

Thursday
Comic Con Kuwait
Kuwait Baseball Softball Challenger League Tournament
Horse Show Jumping Competition
Exhibition: Third Identity
Dance for Romance
Music Concert at ACK

Friday
Comic Con Kuwait
Kuwait Baseball Softball Challenger League Tournament
Horse Show Jumping Competition
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Tai Chi in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup
Kuwait’s First Flying Gathering

Saturday
Comic Con Kuwait
Kuwait Baseball Softball Challenger League Tournament
Horse Show Jumping Competition
Yoga with the 3
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
REVIVE Expo
Karate Kenshinkan & Kung-Fu Sanda
Bark in the Park 2017
Kuwait’s First Flying Gathering

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.




Categories
Movies

Movies Now Showing in Kuwait

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

New This Week:
Kong: Skull Island (7.6)
The Devil’s Dolls (4.3)
The Hollow Point (5.4)

Other Movies Showing:
A Dog’s Purpose (4.8)
Don’t Knock Twice (5.3)
Eloise (4.7)
Gold (6.5) ♦
Hidden Figures (7.9)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (9.4)
Kikoriki. Legend of the Golden Dragon (6.1)
Kung-Fu Yoga (6.2)
Logan (9.0) ♦
Mercury Plains (4.3)
Ozzy (5.6)
Rings (4.6)
Split (7.5) ♦
The LEGO Batman Movie (8.1)

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough (7.6)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D (N/A)
Journey to Space 3D (6.5)
Kenya 3D: Animal Kingdom (6.0)
Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D (7.5)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.




Categories
Complaints

UFC on OSN

Back in 2015 I decided to ditch OSN and live TV and instead use Netflix, Hulu and HBO for all my TV needs. I’ve had no regrets with that decision and I haven’t missed live TV at all since. But, the only thing I wish I did have was access to UFC events. Recently I found out UFC is back with OSN so I decided to check the OSN website and see how much the monthly membership was. To my surprise they had their sports pack for KD6 a month and that included all the UFC events. KD6 is basically how much I’m paying right now for both Netflix and Hulu combined but since I’m a huge UFC fan, I decided it was worth plunking down KD6 just to watch the one or two UFC event every month.

So a few moments ago I tried to sign up for the package and I got reminded to why I ditched OSN in the first place.

Turns out even though they’re selling the sports package that includes UFC events for KD6 a month, you CAN’T sign up to it, not unless you sign up to their starter package which costs another KD6 and includes channels I don’t care for and don’t want. So I’ll have to pay KD12 a month just to watch UFC fights. Why can’t services like OSN just sell you what you want to watch? It’s the same issue people have with cable providers in the US, where they try to sell you 100 channels when you just want 2.

BeIN on the other hand are pretty cool. The only other sport I watch is Formula 1 and BeIN sell day passes for $8. So anytime there is a F1 race I just pay $8 and get to watch it online. I don’t need to sign up to any of their packages, I just watch what I want whenever I want to. Even their monthly pass to all their channels is just $18 which is still pretty reasonable. So OSN if you’re reading this, you guys need to become much more flexible. Netflix is already in the region and more and more people are gonna start dropping cable in favor of digital. At least have separate satellite and digital subscriptions and let people subscribe to whatever they want. I want to give you my money, just not all of it..




Categories
Information Sports

Watch Live Cricket Matches

Last night I was listening to some great tracks on my way home from dinner and somehow found myself outside the Entertainment City gates at around 10:30 in the evening. As I was u-turning to head back home, I noticed the lights at the TACK Cricket Ground were on so I decided to check and see what was going on. Turns out there was a cricket game taking place so I stayed and watched it until they were done.

The TACK Cricket Ground is actually pretty sweet, they’ve got real grass first of all which I love, but they’ve also got super bright floodlights lighting up the whole area so they could play at night. Super practical during the hot summer months.

I asked a friend of mine who’s involved in the local cricket league if there was a game schedule online and turns out there was. If you’re interested in watching live cricket matches, then head over to the Kuwait Cricket website and check out their schedule [Here]




Categories
Fitness

B10 Fitness Studio – Coming Soon

There’s a new women’s gym opening up in the basement of Mayar Complex which I originally thought was going to be a crossfit studio, but yesterday a reader noticed the door open so they went in and snooped around and found a main room filled with sand and surf boards. So he sent me the photos which got my interest.

A post shared by B10 (@b10.kwt) on

I checked the gym’s instagram account out and based on just the teaser videos and photography style alone, it looks like its going to be a pretty cool place. I also did a quick google search for surfboard fitness and ended up finding out about SURFSET which was featured on Shark Tank. The creator of SURFSET used to surf a lot and really liked his way his body looked during the summer months. But during the winter months when he stopped surfing, he lost his conditioning, so he came up with the idea to create the SURFSET board which simulates surfing and allowed him to stay conditioned throughout the year.

The gym isn’t open yet and it’s only going to be for women, but you could check out their instagram account @b10.kwt

Thanks @mac_leb