Search: “ace”

We’re getting another TEDx event in Kuwait this year and it’s going to be held on March 24th under the theme of “greater than me”. The list of speakers hasn’t been finalized yet nor information on tickets, but you could follow them on [Instagram], [Facebook] or their [Website] to stay posted on any updates.

If you’re interested in visiting the Botanical Garden at Bayan Palace I have some good news (and a bit of bad news as well). The Bayan Botanical Garden is open to the general public every Thursday. You don’t need special permission or anything of the sort. All you need to do is give security your civil ID and they will let you access the garden.

The Bayan Botanical Garden contains three different zones with different kind of plants in each. It’s not that big but it’s still pretty cool and most of the plants are labeled with their names. There isn’t a guide book that contains details on the plants so if you’re really curious to know more about each plant be prepared to wikipedia from your phone.

Now for the bit of bad news. The Bayan Botanical Garden is open every Thursday… from 9AM to 1PM. That pretty much sucks for everyone who has a job. It also explains why the only other visitors at the garden while I was there were housewives with their kids. Still, it’s better than having no access at all. If you’d like to visit the garden, here is the location of the entrance on [Google Maps]

Thanks Maaz!

I’ve had my eye on this rare and hard to find book ever since I found out about it a few years ago. It’s by the architect and planner Saba Shiber who joined the Kuwait Ministry of Public Works in 1960. The book dates back to 1964 and lays out the plan by Saba for Kuwait’s urbanization. The book features his research, sketches, plans, photos and visions he had for Kuwait.

A couple of weeks ago I miraculously managed to get my hands on a copy of the book for a ridiculously good deal. I had a saved search on eBay in case the book ever popped up and it did once or twice but the asking prices were ridiculous like KD300 or so. Not that it wasn’t a fair value but it was a lot more than what I wanted to pay. Then a few days before the new year a seller in France put up a hard cover version of the book for sale and the starting bid was just KD50! So I waited and waited and nobody was bidding on it so I finally came in last minute and picked it up myself for KD50. I couldn’t believe I scored such a great deal on the book. Shipping cost me KD14.5 with Aramex so overall I really feel like I got a steal. Best Christmas gift ever thats for sure.

If you’re interested in the book I’ve previously typed out the preface written by Saba and published it [Here]. I also have a PDF version of the book (166MB) uploaded to my server and you can download that from [Here]

A couple of weekends back I borrowed the Lexus NX 200t from the dealership so that I could review it for my blog. I had emailed them requesting it since I’d been admiring the car for awhile now and was curious to try it out. Lexus weren’t really know for exciting or breakthrough designs but the NX completely changed my perception on them.

My favorite color on a car is usually black, but not in this case. I was actually disappointed when I picked up the car to find out it was black. The NX is designed with a lot of sharp lines and black just hides all of them. Not only that but one of the nicest design elements in the car are the rear lights which stretch across the side of the car over the rear tire. But in black that part doesn’t show and instead blends in with the rest of the car. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to show off how beautiful the car really is in my photos because of the color, but I also figured there are tons of them on the road already so more than likely you’ve come across a lighter colored version.

The NX is a cross over vehicle which makes it smaller than a proper SUV but slightly larger than a standard car. They always feel like oversized hatchbacks to me and the NX isn’t any different here. It’s a 4-cylinder turbo engine with front wheel drive but it never felt like it lacked any power on the road. Obviously the fact that we don’t have any mountainous roads helps a lot with that. In the States they have a hybrid model which comes with an electric motor for the rear wheels turning it into an all wheel drive car. Not sure if we have that option in Kuwait, I didn’t see any at the dealership and I forgot to ask them if they had any.

Like all Lexus cars, the interior was plush with leather all around including on the dashboard. The entertainment system interface still feels outdated which is disappointing. They’ve also replaced their finicky joypad with an even more finicky trackpad. I hated the trackpad, it seemed like anytime I accidentally tapped it the car would change a setting or forward a song or perform some other unwanted action. The trackpad along with the outdated interface were the only things I actually didn’t like about the car. Actually come to think of it, the sound system wasn’t that great, mostly because if there was any bass in the track the rear trunk door would loudly rattle annoyingly. For the passengers sitting in the rear, there’s pretty good legroom. I’m over 6ft tall and as you can see in the photo below I didn’t have any space issues.

Like I mentioned at the start of this post the NX is a pretty hot looking car. Lexus have managed to carve out a look that can’t be mistaken for any other car on the road except possibly their larger RX series. The starting price isn’t that bad at KD12,950. It kinda seems like a good deal considering you’re getting a good looking Lexus with a nice all leather interior and Lexus reliability. They have an F-Sport version which looks even better with larger wheels and slightly more aggressive styling, but that’s priced at around KD16,000. It’s a great car overall, but Lexus should definitely give their entertainment system interface a major overhaul. If you’re interested in test driving the car you can do so by contacting the dealer. Here is a link to their [Website]

Last week Huawei sent me to CES 2016 in Las Vegas to cover the experience for my blog. The Consumer Electronics Show is one of the largest electronics shows that takes place during the year and the largest event that takes place in Las Vegas period. If you checked any electronics or gadgets blog last week like Gizmodo or The Verge then you were probably overwhelmed by all the CES related posts that they published. Well I’m not going to do the same here, instead I’m going to highlight just some of my favorite things I saw at CES this year.

The whole experience was insane since the Las Vegas Convention Center is HUMONGOUS. I thought the watch expo Basel World was huge when I visited it in 2013 but CES is so much larger. It’s hard to explain how big it is, I mean just the lobby of one of the halls was larger than any of the halls at the Kuwait International Fair Ground. CES was so huge that it took me more than 2 hours of fast walking to cover all the halls and then after I left I found out I had even missed one hall completely. There was so much stimulation everywhere I looked that I felt like I was having out of body experience at one point.

Anyway, below are some of the things that stuck out for me, if you follow me on twitter (@mark248am) then you’ve probably already seen most of the below but with less details.

There isn’t much going on tonight but things pick up Friday and then Saturday there’s a whole bunch of different stuff taking place including the first Qout Market of the year. Check out the full list of events for this weekend below:

Thursday
Rooftop Movie: Grizzly Man

Friday
Music Unites Us
Kuwait Bibliophiles – Book Club Meeting
Chill-Out Fridays

Saturday
iRun Fun Race
Yoga at the Park
Qout Market
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
Madeenah Tour: Flight of the Birds
Protein Sheikhas: Bootcamp
Rooftop Movie: Wild

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

Note: Sometimes events get canceled, postponed or have details changed. I try to make sure all the information is accurate but always double check with the organizers to be sure.

In a market that offers tenure jobs to any citizen hired in the public sector, the notion of being your own boss and taking responsibility of generating income sounds like sheer madness to most. Only those who are born with an appetite for taking risk, who have a burning desire to bring their vision to life, or who have been groomed slowly into the role, can make the decision to become an entrepreneur. That being said, once you made that decision to start your own business in most cases you need some paper (a.k.a. moola, dough, or cash.) There are many options; here are a few for you to consider:

– If you were an ex-banker or worked in the financial industry in general you could use your contacts to fund your startup by attracting a number of companies to own shares in a new company (your startup) assuming that it’s a large project that can generate the kind of profit such companies look for.

– Taking a bank loan is another option. Bear in mind that when you have monthly installments your business idea must be cash flow positive (i.e. if you supply wholesale and get paid after 90 days you could run out of cash at any month and not be able to cover your loan for that month).

– You can always turn to family and friends for funding. WARNING: If your friends and family are not businesspeople they could either be impatient and push you for faster returns, ask for a buyout because they suddenly need the cash, or feel free to interfere in running the business. If you have no option but to ask friends and family, then make it crystal clear that you want the money as a loan or as investment with potential dividends but not as managing partners. Either way, buy large boxes of Panadol.

– Being funded by a government programme such as the Kuwait Small Projects Development Co. initiative is another option if you were Kuwaiti, know your business and willing to run it yourself. It has an exit option so you can own the business eventually all by yourself.

– Although technically there’s no legal platform for crowdfunding you can always get your commercial license going along with accepting online payments like Knet and credit cards and then use social media to ask your target audience to purchase your developing product in advance in exchange for some unique benefits conditional to the fact that you’re doing something new. Visit Kickstarter to have an idea.

– Partnerships work well only if the partners’ skills complement each other (think Yin-Yang) and be clear from Day Zero what each is responsible for and respect each other’s boundaries even when you disagree about the decision.

– Ultimately, if you can start your own business without giving up any equity then you’re in a sweet spot. If you don’t have the cash yet but you can save it in a year or so, go for it. You’ll be better off.

This week’s tip: before you decide on any type of funding, know what you want to achieve and be clear on why you want to achieve it. Then see if the price you pay for that funding (and there’s always a price) will jeopardize your focus and goals. If it could, either put in place conditions that can protect your vision or walk way from that funding option.

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.

If you’re looking for a place to play tennis or squash for cheap and without requiring any membership, then the best place I know of is Salmiya Club.

Tennis
Salmiya Club has 5 tennis courts, 4 outdoor and 1 in door. The cost is KD10 per hour (so 5 per person) but they also have monthly membership as well. If you’re not a member then you can come use the courts between 9AM to 1PM and 8PM to 10PM. When you get there you just walk onto the court and start playing, someone will then come collect money from you.

Squash
Salmiya Club also has 6 indoor squash courts as well. Like with tennis you don’t need to be a member to use them. The cost is KD4 (KD2 per person) for 30 minutes but they also have monthly membership. Like with tennis if you’re not a member then you’ve got a limited time slot to play which is 9AM to 1PM and 7PM to 9PM. Make sure you wear sneakers with white soles or they won’t let you use the courts, they’re very anal about this.

If you don’t know where Samiya Club is, here it is on [Google Maps]

I’m glad that the Ministry has been putting a lot more effort in the past few months with regulations to sort out issues regarding foreign laborers. Unfortunately though, news outlets in the country have been reporting that the ministry has proposed new minimum wages for domestic workers and I was shocked to see the memo.

Apparently the proposed memo regarding domestic workers states the following:
Filipino: Starting salary range between KD110-120 monthly
Indian: Starting salary range between KD70-85 monthly
Sri Lankan: Starting salary KD70 monthly
Ethiopian, Nepalese, Eritrean, Ghanaian and Madagascan: Starting salary range between KD70-80 monthly

I don’t understand how this would be legal in any country yet alone Kuwait where the constitution clearly states (Article 29) that we are all equal, regardless of gender, race, color and so on. Now I know that we are unfortunately still dealing with the “white man syndrome” where certain nationalities get paid more for the same amount of work compared to other nationalities, but how is that right? And especially when it’s coming from the government itself.

Many people will argue that it’s still a lot of money compared to what they might make back in their country and since they come from different countries they should be paid according to their countries economy. But going by that logic, how would a Kuwaiti feel if they worked in London but got paid based on the the average salary for Kuwait?

If they’re insisting on fixed wages wouldn’t it make more sense the wage changes based on experience or qualifications? For example something like:

Base Salary: KD80
Speakes English: +KD10
Speaks English and Arabic: +KD25
Can Cook: +KD10
Over 5 Years Experience: +KD20
Over 10 Years Experience: +KD50

In any case I hope this all turns out to be a rumor.

Feel free to email me on [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to announce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

Last week I posted about the LEGO store officially opening in Kuwait and a lot of readers were curious to know how the prices were compared to the U.S. So I decided to pass by the store and randomly pick out a few items from the different LEGO collections to compare. Below is a list of 18 different items with their prices in Kuwait as well as their prices on Amazon.

LEGO Star Wars 75095 Tie Fighter
Kuwait: KD149.950
Amazon: KD61

LEGO Star Wars 75059 Sandcrawler
Kuwait: KD159.950
Amazon: KD91

LEGO Star Wars 10240 Red Five X-Wing Starfighter
Kuwait: KD129.950
Amazon: KD78

LEGO Star Wars 75054 AT-AT Building Toy
Kuwait: KD97.950
Amazon: KD48

LEGO Minecraft 21118 The Mine
Kuwait: KD73.950
Amazon: KD38

LEGO Pirates 70413 The Brick Bounty
Kuwait: KD72.950
Amazon: KD45

LEGO Architecture 21019 The Eiffel Tower
Kuwait: KD18.950
Amazon: KD10

LEGO Architecture 21017 Imperial Hotel
Kuwait: KD69.950
Amazon: KD39

LEGO City Police 60068 Crooks’ Hideout
Kuwait: KD32.950
Amazon: KD16

LEGO City Police 60047 Police Station
Kuwait: KD65.950
Amazon: KD24

LEGO City Space Port 60080 Spaceport
Kuwait: KD60.950
Amazon: KD29

LEGO Simpsons 71006 The Simpsons House
Kuwait: KD134.950
Amazon: KD61

LEGO Creator Expert 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper
Kuwait: KD69.500
Amazon: KD39

LEGO Creator Expert 10246 Detective’s Office
Kuwait: KD99.500
Amazon: KD48

LEGO Creator 10232 Palace Cinema
Kuwait: KD79.950
Amazon: KD45

LEGO Mindstorms EV3 31313
Kuwait: KD249.950
Amazon: KD106

LEGO Technic 42039 24 Hours Race Car
Kuwait: KD76.950
Amazon: KD33

LEGO Technic 42030 VOLVO L350F Wheel Load
Kuwait: KD169.950
Amazon: KD74

As you probably noticed, the prices in Kuwait are double that of Amazon and in one case triple. It’s pretty ridiculous considering this is an official store. One of my readers made the extra effort and contacted LEGO to complain about the prices. They replied to him with the following:

Dear Quintin,
Thanks for getting in touch with us.

I’m sorry you’re not happy with the price of LEGO® sets in Kuwait. We know we’re lucky to have so many loyal LEGO fans around the world and we’re always pleased to get feedback – especially when it’s about how we can improve.

Finding the right price for a toy isn’t easy and depends on a lot of considerations. To name a few, our marketing team looks at statistical data about a country’s population, transportation costs, currency exchange rates, local laws and taxes and the prices of other toys. No two countries are exactly the same, so the price may be different from country to country.

Futhermore, to date we do not have any official LEGO® stores in the either Kuwait and Dubai. Therefore, it is not the LEGO group who have set the prices in the particular stores you are referring to, but the individual stores themselves

Please let us know if you need anything else.

Kind regards,

Onno
LEGO® Service

What do they mean they don’t have an official LEGO store in Kuwait? My guess is the customer support person hasn’t been updated on new store openings. In any case, based on their response I’m guessing the reason LEGO costs twice as much in Kuwait is because people here can afford to pay that much. Sucks I know.

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.

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?

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]