Search: “ace”

Last week my brother got a flat tire and when he took out his spare tire he noticed that was flat as well. So his choices were:

– Call a tow truck
– Go get his spare fixed and then install it on the car and then drive back to Canada Dry street to get the main tire replaced
– Call a mobile tire service company and have them come over and replace his tire

He ended up going with the third option and called Star Service since it was his most convenient option. Star Service are an emergency roadside assistance service that also do home calls. Say you end up with a dead car battery or flat tire, you would call Star Service up and they’d come over and get you up and running again. If you have a flat tire you could call them up and give them your tire size and brand and they could bring a new tire with them. In my brothers case since his tire was rare, they couldn’t get him one so he ended up buying the tire himself and they then came over to his place to install it for him.

Star Service come over in a small fully equipped van. If you’ve ever had a tire replaced you know that they first need to remove the old tire from the wheel, then install the new tire on the wheel and then get the wheel balanced. Star Service can do all of that inside the van since all the equipment needed is in there. They even have a small generator to power up the computer and the machine needed for the wheel balancing.

ُThe cost to come over and do a tire replacement was surprisingly not too expensive costing just KD10. If you ever get a flat or a dead battery and need their services, they work daily from 11AM to 7PM except for Fridays. Their phone number is 90997823.

Update: Garagee is another company that offers a similar service, their phone number is 50250280 and their instagram account is @garagee.me

After posting my review of the Micro 3D Printer last week a reader contacted me asking me if I could print something for him. I realized some people might want something printed but don’t want to invest in a printer so this post is a roundup of local places that could print stuff for you in 3D. If you know of any other place, please share it in the comments below.

3D Printing
3DPme – They sell, rent 3D printers as well as print stuff for you
Wain Plus – They can create 3D objects for you as well as print stuff

Other
MB Training Center – They offer 3D printing classes

Yesterday I had a meeting with TAP, (the local electronic payment company) since they wanted to let me know of some new things they’ll be introducing in a couple a months time. I can’t disclose any of it for now but while meeting with them I did manage to get some details on their current services. To be truthful, I wasn’t a fan of TAP before my meeting and that’s mostly because of the ridiculous no desktop browser rule they had in place. Basically on more than one occasion when I wanted to pay for an item using their service, the link the seller provided wouldn’t work from my computer. Turned out their service would only work when using a mobile phone browser and I thought that was the dumbest thing ever. There was no technical reason for it, they just decided not to allow people on desktops from using their service. Not very practical especially when I would link to workshops on my event page that required TAP payments. Thankfully, this annoyance will be solved with their upcoming updates.

With that rant out of the way, what I wanted to write about in this post is how their payment system is actually really great for home and small businesses in Kuwait. When I was starting a company and wanted to setup a payment system for an online store, the fees involved were ridiculous. Firstly you needed to be an officially registered business which means home businesses couldn’t setup an online payment system. Secondly the cost involved was just too high, depending on the bank you would pay a setup fee of around KD750 (KD1,000 in some cases), then a monthly fee ranging from KD25 to KD50 depending on the bank and then on top of that a charge per transaction, 1% for debit cards and 3% for credit cards. So if you’re just starting up those fees could be pretty brutal.

TAP on the other hand offer two services for home and small businesses and in both services you do not have to be an officially registered business.

GoCollect
The first service is called GoCollect. Say you have an instagram account and you sell cupcakes out of your home, when someone places an order with you through whatsapp, you would provide them with a link that will send them to the TAP website where they could pay you either with a debit card or credit card. There is no setup fee for this service and you can sign up to it from the TAP website. You could be up and running in less than 24 hours. TAP make their money with transaction fees, they charge 200fils 2.5% per debit card transaction and 3% for credit card transactions. TAP gets your customers money and then deposits it into your account. You don’t have to be dealing with a certain bank either, they work with all local banks.

GoSell
The second service they offer is called GoSell. This is for small businesses that have an online store. Say you’re selling tshirts and you created an online shop using one of the online services like Shopify, Magento, WordPress or whatever, TAP would provide you with a plugin (or API for pros) that would allow you to integrate their payment system with your ecommerce website. They charge around KD300 to set this up for you, maybe a bit less, maybe a bit more depending on the size of your business and then like with GoCollect, they charge 200fils 2.5% per debit card transaction and 3% for credit cards. No monthly fees.

If you’re a home or small business or thinking of starting a business then this is currently the easiest way to setup a payment system. If you want to find out more you can visit their website for more details [Here]

Update: I was informed by TAP to replace the 200fils debit card transaction fee in my post with 2.5% since they don’t have a fix rate. Depending on the size of your business and your negotiation ability the debit card transaction fee could be 200fils, could be 1%, could be 2.5% etc.. it varies

Just a quick post about this place. Al-Hakimi has been a life saver for me, I’ve been finding and getting a lot of my mechanical parts for my Datsun from them. They seem to have everything except body parts. So far I’ve gotten my fuel pump, brake pads (can’t believe I found these!), oil pan gasket and intake manifold gasket from them. They even have shocks that fit my 240z. A friend of mine was looking for parts for his Toyota AE86 and turns out they had them as well. It’s a gold mine! So if you’ve got an old Japanese car and need mechanical parts for, I can’t recommend these guys enough. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

Update: Here is a link to their [Website]

Back in April I bought a 1973 Datsun 240z that was in pretty great condition for a 43 year old car. When I initially decided to buy a classic car I didn’t want one I could just drive on the weekends every now and then but one I could drive every day if I wanted to. Since I bought it I’ve been driving it at least three times a week, mostly more, it’s become my evening car. The experience has been great so far even though I’ve had issues pop up.

Since I bought the car I’ve improved things in it quite a bit. I replaced all the bushings (rubber thingies that cushion metal parts) which removed all the rattling the car had, I installed an AC system so I could drive it during the summer, added a new carburetor to improve performance and a ton of other minuscule things all to make the car more driver friendly. And it’s worked. The car is more fun than ever to drive which is why I take it out so often.

But the car isn’t without issues. Firstly because the car is so old, there are no warning lights meaning I need to keep my eye on all the gauges all the time. When the fuel is low you don’t get a cute little orange warning light to let you know, instead I need to check the fuel gauge often to make sure sure I’m good on fuel which I’m not used to doing. Such a small thing but I can imagine when the first car came out with a low fuel warning light people must have thought it was the smartest idea ever. What makes things even more unpractical in my car is the fuel dial isn’t even in the dashboard in front of me, it’s on top of the center console to my right and the second dial out of three there. Same with the temperature gauge, while driving home one day during Ramadan, one of the fan belts tore off and I didn’t notice. So my car started over heating and of course I didn’t get a warning light and since the temperature gauge is not in my field of view I didn’t notice the car over heating until water started splashing out from the radiator under the hood. Now I constantly look at all the dials every few minutes to make sure everything is working right. I also now drive around with my full tool kit in the trunk and a Haynes 240z Repair Manual just in case.

If you’re wondering how I still find parts for the car there is a shop locally I’ll be posting about soon called Hakimi where I’ve been getting my engine and mechanical parts from as well as from online shops like thezstore.com. Even with the random issues I’ve been having (and I’ve had a bunch but they’re too boring to list), I still love the car, a lot. I still enjoy driving it like I did the first day I got it and even more since the car drives a lot better now. Part of the fun of owning a classic car is fixing it up, it keeps things exciting.

[YouTube]

The Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Causeway, a key project on the state national development plan, will be among the longest bridge worldwide. It is one track for completion in November 2018. The project, also known as the Subbiyah Causeway, aims to link south and north Kuwait, as well as coping with the increasing traffic jam over the coming three decades.

It consists of two parts: the Main Causeway that will link Kuwait City to the Subbiyah New Town area to the north, stretching 37.5 km, starting from the Ghazali Road intersection and ending at the Subbiyah highway. About 27km of it is a marine bridge structure. The second bridge, Doha Link, will be 12.4 km and will pass through the Kuwait Bay area towards the west, linking the Shuwaikh Port with the Doha motorway.

Up to 59 percent of the Main Causeway has been achieved, and 30 percent in the Doha Link, Assistant Undersecretary for Road Engineering at the Ministry of Public Works Eng. Ahmad Al­Hessan told KUNA. He added that the Doha link aims to end traffic jams in Shuwaikh, and on the Ghazali Road resulting from the trucks using the Port. The Sheikh Jaber Al­Ahmad Causeway also includes two artificial islands, the first to be built on a total area of 300,000 square meters near Kuwait city, and the second near Subbiyah New Town.

They will have government buildings, a marina and green spaces in addition to areas for future investment projects. [Source]

I’ve been watching their progress for awhile now since I can see a large chunk of the project from outside my window and they’ve been moving along pretty quickly. You can even see the bridge in earth view on [Google Maps].

Thanks Ricardas

I’ve been doing a bit of work on my Datsun and one thing I needed to get was a new carburetor. My car had a small single barrel carb and I needed to get a larger 4 barrel Holley or Edelbrock so I did a google search and found out about a shop called ProRPM. I passed by them but they turned out to be a tiny store and I couldn’t find what I wanted. When I told my mechanic I was having difficulty finding the part, he told me about a place called Super Shop. Not only did I find what I was looking for there but the price was also pretty similar to the price on Amazon. So I went around and took note of all the different brands they carried in case someone in the future is googles like I did. These are the brands I saw in their shop:

AFE
ARP
Auto meter
B&M
BBK
Comp Cam’s
Cometic
Edelbrock
Eibach
Fel-pro
Holley
K&N
Magna Fuel
Manley
Mcleed
Moroso
MSD
RPC
Wix

So if you’re looking for any of these brands for your car then this is the place to check out first. Their instagram account is @supershop_kw and here is their location on [Google Maps]

On my way to lunch I spotted a building under construction on fire in Salmiya. I didn’t head towards it or even take a photo, I was just so disinterested. Around an hour later a friend of mine sent me a video of the fire and I started to question if this is possibly an interesting post for the blog that I am missing out on. I was leaving lunch by then so I headed back towards the burning building. There were a ton of fire trucks, a guy on a stretcher being lifted into an ambulance and a crowd gathered watching. Most of the roads around the building which is on Salem Mubarek Street were also blocked off and yet I still wasn’t interested. I snapped my one picture and drove home.

8 years ago I’d be all over this fire so I could post about it on the blog. I would have parked me car, gone down and tried to take as many interesting photos as possible, maybe ask someone how the fire started.. you know like a wannabe reporter. But now I just don’t think a fire in a random building is interesting content anymore. Accident photos, fires, its more kuwaituptodate style of posts than mine, not unless it’s some important structure burning like the airport or something. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve gotten too picky with what I post and if thats a bad thing for the blog. I don’t think it is.

I’m thinking out loud here so bear with me. The blog has always been about curated content, actually maybe that’s not entirely accurate but it has evolved to being about curated content and the curation process has always revolved around me. It’s what I think is interesting at this very moment and usually related to my personal life experiences. So today I’m interested in Matcha, so I’ll post about Matcha, tomorrow I might be interested in I don’t know, staplers, so I’ll post about staplers. If a fire in a building doesn’t interest me then I think it’s fine I don’t post about it. It’s not like in the old days, I don’t feel the need anymore to post everything since there are tons of other places to get content today. I think what makes my blog content unique to other sources is the utter randomness of the topics, all of which in one way or another relate to me.

So there you have it, I think I needed to write this down for me more than for you. But basically I’m going to continue just posting about stuff that matters to me and not what I think might matter to other people. Like it’s always been.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted about TV shows but since I’m watching a few really good ones at the moment I figured it was time I do. This isn’t a large list, it just a small one of shows I want to highlight.

UnREAL
The first show I would recommend is UnREAL. I binge watched the whole first season earlier this year in one go on the plane when I was on my way to Vegas and the second season is currently running now. The show takes place on the set of a reality dating show and gives you an insight on all the manipulation that takes place behind the scenes. It’s heartless, brutal and I love it. My favorite show on TV right now.

Billions
First season is already out and I binge watched half of it yesterday. The show stars Damian Lewis (from Homeland) as a billionaire hedge fund king and the extraordinary actor, Paul Giamatti as a U.S. Attorney who’s trying to take him down. It’s really entertain from the get-go with great acting by the two.

The Night Of
Only one episode of this new HBO show is out but I’m already hooked. It’s a crime drama that follows a Paskistani-American student who ends up in a middle of a murder investigation. I love crime dramas, especially ones that don’t try to solve a crime per episode. Speaking of which if you haven’t already, watch The Killing, the first season is probably the best thing you could ever watch on TV.

One to look out for…

Vice Principals
This show comes out today so I haven’t watched it yet but it stars Danny McBride (Kenny Powers) so it should (hopefully) be funny.

Finally…

Kill Tony
Ok this isn’t a TV show, it’s a podcast but instead of making a separate post for it I’ll just mention it here. Kill Tony is I guess a reality show comedy. The show is run by the hilarious comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and the audience members are all striving stand up comedians. Tony randomly selects a name of an audience member from a hat and they have to come up and do stand up for 60 seconds. Although many of the stand ups aren’t funny the show is actually incredibly funny since Tony and his guest celebrity comedians tend to roast the stand ups (while also giving them feedback and tips on how to improve).

Have a show you’re currently watching and like? Share it in the comments.

Last week a friend of mine asked me where they could find ceremonial grade Matcha and I didn’t know. Since I like to know everything I decided to find out. After checking out different supermarkets the only place I found ceremonial grade Matcha was at Wholesome Foods and SaveCo. But, for some odd reason, they were selling it for more than double the price it costs on Amazon. The price on Amazon was KD8 but SaveCo and Wholesome Foods were selling it for KD16.8. If I ordered it from Amazon and shipped it to Kuwait myself, I’d end up paying round KD11 with shipping so no way I was gonna pay KD16.8 for it.

So I kept looking and eventually found ceremonial grade Matcha at Teavana and they were selling it for the same price as Amazon. KD8 for the 40g can and KD13 for the 80g can. So if you’re looking for Matcha tea, Teavana is the place. And SaveCo, you guys really need to rethink how you price some of your products.

If you don’t know what Matcha is or its benefits, click [Here]

Kuwait is saying “no” to “Pokemon Go” in certain places. The tiny oil-rich emirate’s Interior Ministry issued a statement Friday warning users of the smash mobile phone application from taking pictures of any vital government, military or security location.

It also warned users not to pounce on Pikachus or chase Charmanders at mosques, shopping centers, malls and oil installations.

Lt. Gen. Sulaiman al-Fahad at the ministry said: “No excuses will be accepted by anyone claiming ignorance of the law.”

Though “Pokemon Go” hasn’t officially come to nations in the Persian Gulf, many have downloaded the app. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates also have warned users to be careful while chasing digital critters in the augmented reality game. [Source]

I can understand why they’re warning users not to play Pokemon in sensitive government and military locations but malls??

via Nibaq

A few things taking place this weekend. There is a Korean Experience taking place on Friday at Al Shaheed Park, so if you’re looking to experience some Korean culture I’d head to that. If you’re into Magic The Gathering there are two events this weekend include a midnight Pre-release event taking place late Friday evening. Finally Saturday there is a Poetry Slams competition, not my thing usually but since there is nothing else to do might check that out. Here are this weekends full list of events:

Thursday
Nothing

Friday
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Korean Experience
Magic: The Gathering – Eldritch Moon Midnight Pre-release

Saturday
Yoga with the 3
Magic: The Gathering – Eldritch Moon Pre-release
Poetry Slams

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 double check info with organizers.

An invited competition was launched in 1960 for the construction of a museum in Kuwait City. Michel Ecochard won this project while his work was flourishing, especially in Lebanon. However, between the time of the project and its realisation, a long waiting period elapses. Michel Ecochard expressed doubts about the likelihood of this project being completed at all.

The Museum programme was based around several themes, including areas devoted to the oceans and to the field of culture, another to the oil industry, and a botanical garden. The first section relates to culture and administration; a space dedicated to archaeology, art, ethnography and folk traditions. Offices and storage areas extend into an outdoor exhibition area, with spaces reserved for temporary exhibitions and an auditorium. A separate building is reserved for displays on the theme of “Kuwait, today and tomorrow”, a dome-like structure, connected by a walkway to the main building. One can also gain access from the garden. A space with a high ceiling is able to house the machinery of oil chemistry; the second part of the second storey addresses the scientific and industrial applications of oil, and is covered by a dome structure that stands out from the rest. The main entrance is located between the two buildings.

It is interesting to note that the section of the Museum part devoted to traditional life partially recreates the organisation of the so-called traditional city, with a market for traditional crafts such as tanning, jewellery-making, pottery, weaving, and fishing. Buildings organised around a central patio reproduce forms of traditional habitat. In the area destined to house the zoological and botanical garden, an itinerary encouraging strolling, with the first floor transparent, is provided via ramps and walkways connecting the floors, allowing a view of the botanic garden and a large aquarium. The strength of the architectural design comes from the fact that each section is both independent and connected to everything else, both in the interior and exterior areas.

The architecture is resolutely modern with the use of concrete pillars and beams. The rhythmic façades are punctuated by areas with small rectangles made from work blocks. The architecture has been designed in response to the climate to avoid both the sun and sandstorms. It should be noted that the sun-shade was conceived as a way to create a microclimate and a variation of light according to the coverage needs. The idea is to create protection through a flat roof made of open, light, metal, a “microclimate” in which the museum and its immediate surroundings can function independently of the outside temperature. This is a huge shelter that is 28m high, with widely spaced pillars.

The museum was looted and burned during the 1990 Iraq invasion and it remained in that state until very recently. The museum is now currently under renovation.

All the images and text above were taken from Archnet [Link] They also have a scan of an interesting publication relating to the museum which you can read [Here]

In 2014 I visited the museum and took photos of the inside before renovation work had started, you can check those out [Here]

The picture above is of the previous Kuwait National Museum. It was also destroyed during the 1990 Iraq invasion.

Over Eid holiday Pokémon Go was officially released in the U.S. For the uninitiated, Pokémon Go is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game, released both on iOS and Android. The point of the game is to walk around your environment to find and catch Pokémon. When you reach level 5, you’re able to fight at Pokémon gyms that are scattered across the country. The first time you do this you get to choose the faction you want to be a part of, Team Instinct (Yellow), Team Valor (Red) or Team Mystic (Blue). Once you choose a faction and beat the gym boss, that gym belongs to your faction. The game is a massive hit in the U.S. and is about to surpass Twitter in daily active users. It seems to be encouraging adults and kids alike to go outside and walk around, and in some cases make new friends. There are a lot of great stories coming out thanks to this game.

Sadly since we are in Kuwait we can’t really go out for long walks at the moment because it’s super hot outside. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t still play it. I’ve noticed that the game works in our malls and other places we spend a lot of time in. My wife was shopping and I decided to try out the app indoors and I ended up catching Jigglypuff and a few other great Pokémon while she was doing her thing. I’ve also used the app at traffic lights but please don’t use it while you’re actually driving unless you’re on a Pokémon date. Mark had a power cut at his apartment over the weekend so he was forced to leave the house and ended up killing time by walking around his neighborhood looking for Pokémon until the power came back on. Kuwait has loads of Pokéstops and Pokémon gyms scattered throughout so we aren’t missing out on anything really.

Here are some quick tips for first time users:

– In the bottom right side of the screen you’ll find icons of Pokémon that are in your vicinity. If you click on the icon you’ll find up to 3 little footprints under each Pokémon. 3 footprints means the Pokémon is in your area, but not close to where you are, while no footprint means the Pokémon is right next to you.

– When you try to catch a Pokémon you’ll find an AR slider on the top right. Switch this off to switch off your camera, which makes catching Pokémon easier.

– As you’re trying to catch Pokémon, hold the Pokéball and twirl it on screen to add a curve to it which will give you more experience points if you’re successful at catching the Pokémon.

– If you have duplicate Pokémon, click on the ones you don’t want and transfer them over to the Professor to get items necessary to make your Pokémon stronger.

So how is the quality of the Pokémon Go app itself? Well, to be honest, average. The UI is badly designed and the game is known to crash for a few users. The “game” itself is pretty thin, besides walking around and trying to catch Pokémon, there isn’t much else to do. The only time you ever battle is when you find a gym. There is no way to interact with friends, no way to trade Pokémon and no way to challenge a friend to a battle. But ultimately, the quality of the app itself means little when the experience of using the app is making people happy. At the end of the day, Niantich can update the app some time in the future to add the features that are still missing from this game.

If you’re interested in trying out the game it’s available to download in the U.S. iOS App Store and Android devices. You won’t find it in the Kuwait store since it hasn’t officially launched worldwide.

Posted by Patrick

Yesterday while at my mechanic getting some work done on my Datsun I decided to kill time by exploring the area a bit. For some odd reason there are around a dozen scuba diving shops near my mechanic and in between them was this one store called Alazame that sold outdoor gear. I decided to walk in and check their products out when I noticed they sold NiteCore flashlights. I’ve been wanting to get a new flashlight for awhile now since the one I have I now keep in my Datsun. I had researched a few and had decided on ordering a NiteCore one off Amazon and luckily I hadn’t placed the order yet. Alazame turned out to be the local dealer for the NiteCore brand and their prices are exactly like on Amazon. The two flashlights I had my eye on were the P12 and the MH12, the P12 sells for KD18 and the MH12 for KD24, which are their prices on Amazon not including tax or shipping. I ended up picking up the MH12 and figured I’d post about the place in case anyone is ever googling looking for one of their brands in Kuwait.

Alazame are the dealers for the following popular brands:

Leatherman
Gerber
NiteCore
Jack Wolfskin
Buck Knives
SOG Specialty Knives
Buff Headwear

They have an online store with some of their products and brands which you can order from although it’s not very accurate, the NiteCore P12 for example shows as out of stock but they actually did have it in stock. Still its a good source to check prices out and if it’s something you really want you could always call them and check if they have it in the store. Their website is alazame.com and their phone number is 66322666. If you want to pass by their store then here is their location on [Google Maps]