Search: “ace”

Oman completely blows all its neighbors out of the water coming in at 13th place.

1 – United Stated of America (147 visa free countries)
1 – United Kingdom (147 visa free countries)
7 – Canada (140 visa free countries)
13 – Oman (134 visa free countries)
47 – United Arab Emirates (72 visa free countries)
52 – Qatar (66 visa free countries)
54 – Kuwait (64 visa free countries)
57 – Saudi Arabia (61 visa free countries)
59 – India (59 visa free countries)
61 – Bahrain (61 visa free countries)
64 – Egypt (53 visa free countries)
73 – Lebanon (44 visa free countries)

Check out the full list [Here]

Update: It seems they had made a mistake with Oman’s ranking, they’ve updated the list and Oman is now ranked 63 (54 visa free countries). Bahrain was also moved to position 57. Not sure if any other changes were made.

Thanks Musaed

I was checking Reddit earlier this morning and a redditor posted about how he passed by Boulevard Mall and was impressed. At first I thought damn I’m so out of touch, a huge ass project like Boulevard which is pretty close to where I live opens up and I end up finding out about it from Reddit. So I asked the user if Boulevard was open and he told me it wasn’t to the public but I could go there and tell them I’m inspecting the location for leasing. Smart idea so I left the house and headed to check the place out.

Boulevard is located in Salmiya opposite Souk Salmiya and it’s a huge project which I’ve posted about a number of times before. The project is composed of a number of elements including a mall, a dinning boulevard, a gigantic park, artificial lakes, an amphitheater, basketball courts, football courts and much more.

I was lucky that as I was driving into the park there was a car in front of me who stopped at the gate first and spoke to the security guard to have him open it. Once he opened the gate I drove in right after pretending I was with the car in front of me. Once I was in I was basically able to go and explore the grounds without anyone hassling me.

The first area I explored was the main mall. The mall is the largest building in the project and consists of two floors with a very large centre court in the middle. None of the shops had started construction yet but the mall looked pretty much complete and they were just working on the escalators when I was there.

Once I was done with the mall I decided to explore the park outside. I headed to what looked like the dining boulevard which was an area where single story units surrounded a large artificial lake.

From there I headed further inwards into the park and found a large green field with a few rows of stadium seating on one side. I didn’t understand what this field was going to be used for since it was round but after checking the satellite view of the field on Google Maps I now realize it’s going to be a cricket field.

From there I continued walking inwards and spotted the amphitheater followed by the basketball and football fields.

I was getting hot with all the walking and it was starting to drizzle some mud so I decided to head back to the car before the weather got worse. There was still quite a bit of park to explore and a few buildings but I figured I already had a general idea of how the project was turning out. I didn’t have high hopes before especially considering how long it’s been since the project started but now I’m actually excited about it. I have no idea when it’s going to finish or what the hold up is. They have electricity and it looks like the shop owners could come in any day now and start working on their stores so I don’t really know what the delay is. Hopefully it’s going to end up opening really soon.

I usually post about the events that take place over the weekend but there are tons of other events that take place in Kuwait during the middle week. This month for example there is practically an event every day so check out the events page for the full list [Here]

Healthy Feast is a new restaurant that soft launched last week. As you can tell from the name, it’s a healthy restaurant and they pride themselves in having fresh, locally grown, organic and gluten free dishes. Even their menu starts off with the following introduction:

We support local, organic and sustainable practices wherever possible. Our menu is always changing according to what is available and seasonal. This is today’s menu:

So right off the bat I was pretty excited to try out their dishes.

The restaurant is located in Bneid Al Gar and although the exterior doesn’t look like much the interior is very cute and bright with lots of natural daylight coming in. The walls were rough and painted white with natural wood being used everywhere. I would have taken a photo but a couple of tables were already occupied so I couldn’t. Once I sat down I was given the menu and after going through it I decided to go with the following:

Raw zucchini with almond thai dressing KD1.950
Pumpkin & avocado maki roll, with beet brown rice KD2.500
Root vegetables in curried lemongrass coconut milk KD3.500
Green Wellness juice: spinach, cucumber, apple, celery and lemon KD1.850

While waiting for my dishes I was also served a complimentary bowl of cheesy kale chips which usually costs KD1.500.

The first dish to arrive was my raw zucchini which looked like a small bowl of spaghetti. This dish completely caught me by surprise since it was so full of flavor. It tasted like an intricate starter I would have at a Japanese restaurant and I loved it (I later found out the chef was Japanese). The second dish I was served were the maki rolls. They were also pretty good although I was worried they would fill me up before my main dish arrived. I really wish they had chopsticks though since my first two dishes could have used them. When I asked the waitress for chopsticks she went into the kitchen and came back and told me the Japanese chef said I should use my fingers. I thought that was a hilarious soup nazi moment and proceeded to eat the rolls with my fingers, I had no problem with that. Once I was done with the rolls I was served the curry bowl. For the curry bowl I had three choices for the base, cauliflower rice, brown rice or quinoa. I went with quinoa although I haven’t been having quinoa for awhile now since I’m so over it. But, the curry was so flavorful and delicious I don’t think it would have mattered if I had gone with quinoa or any of the other rice options.

It’s a new restaurant, I ordered three completely new dishes I hadn’t tried before and I ended up loving all three. The chances of that happening are pretty rare which is why I fell in love with the place. It kind feels like an evolution to Gia or what Gia should have become. I did have two minor issues though. The first was with my juice, it was served in a beaker but it was filled less than half way which made it look like either someone had already drank from it or they had run out of juice while filling it up. The second thing is the lack of chopsticks. Again it’s not a big issue but two out of the three dishes I had were Japanese like and my guess is there are more dishes like that on the menu so why not have chopsticks as well?

In any case as I said I loved the place and I’m actually going back for lunch today. Healthy Feast is located in Bneid Al Gar and right now they’re open daily except for Sundays from 2PM to 7PM. Here is a link to their instagram account @healthy_feast and here is their location on [Google Maps]

Around two weeks back I was in Lebanon for the weekend and stayed at a hotel called The Smallville. When I’m in Lebanon I usually stay at one of the beautiful guesthouses like Beyt, but because I was booking last minute I couldn’t find any availability which is why I ended up booking at Smallville. The hotel is fairly new having been open for around a year now and going by the pictures online it looked like a trendy place to stay. More importantly though it was fairly affordable compared to some of the other options I was looking at.

After spending two nights there I can easily say it’s now one of my favorite places to stay when I go down to Lebanon and it’s incredible value for money.

The hotel itself is located in a quiet neighborhood but its still very close to Achrafieh, Gemeyze and Downtown. The room was fairly large and I had the regular “Premium King” room yet it came with a small kitchen, a seating area and a balcony with a view. The staff where really friendly throughout the stay even when I stumbled into the hotel lobby at 6AM from a night out and started mumbling to them about my checkout time (which they replied telling me I could checkout whenever I woke up no issues). It feels like a hotel made for fun party goers and I like that because you feel comfortable even when you do silly things.

My room cost me $118 a night and I booked last minute so you could probably get it cheaper if you book earlier. When I was checking out the manager gave me his card and told me to contact him the next time I want to book since he could offer me an even better deal. I’ve already recommended the hotel to some friends who ended up loving it as well so if you’re looking for a trendy and affordable place to stay in while visiting Lebanon, then I’d highly recommend The Smallville. Here is a link to their [Website]

Assaha isn’t a new place, they’ve actually been open for around three years now but I only discovered it a few months back when I had a business lunch there. It’s now become one of my favorite Lebanese restaurants which I frequent often alongside Leila.

Assaha is a Lebanese chain with locations around the world including Lebanon, London, Qatar, Sudan and Iraq. The building on the outside looks like an old Lebanese house and once you’re inside that look continues. There are a lot and I do mean a lot of seating space all around the inside of the building, but my favorite is the courtyard space in the back which also happens to be the no smoking area (pictured above). Once you’re in the courtyard you no longer feel like you’re in Kuwait anymore.

The food is obviously good or else I wouldn’t be recommending the place and the service is even better. They also have raw meats for those of you that are wondering. If you’re interested, Assaha is easy to find since they’re located on the Gulf Road, right next to Steak and Shake. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

The LOYAC series Mishwarna is now being produced and released every two weeks instead of a weekly basis because the producers want to spend more time on the production. I didn’t notice an improvement in production quality this week and the content still seems very short, especially for two weeks worth of work. Personally I think they should go back to doing this weekly because 4 minutes of content every two weeks just seems a bit lazy.

In this episode of Mishwarna, Rawaf and Tamara covered Souk Mubarakiya but they barely share anything. They didn’t recommend places, share an interesting little spot they found or even share their favorite spots. So what was the purpose of the video? For something as busy and packed with interesting things as Mubarakiya, I am surprised they weren’t able to create a much longer video with so much more interesting content.

For those of you who’ve been questioning why I’ve been sharing these videos on a weekly basis even though they’re not great its because I’m supporting them. A lot of people create content but then get demoralized and kill the project when they don’t get enough viewers. I wanted to send viewers their way in hopes of getting them more excited about these videos so they could work on improving them. But 7 episodes in I still haven’t noticed an improvement and it’s actually taken a step backwards by now taking two weeks to produce the same content they were producing weekly. This is why unless there is a dramatic difference in the next episode, this will probably be the last video of the series I share. [YouTube]

Awhile ago as I was pulling up into my street and into my buildings underground parking, I noticed a cop car parked on the side of the road. I then noticed a bunch of cars that were parked legally on the side of the road had tickets on them. So I pulled up next to the cop and I asked him if this was a no parking street, he replied saying no he’s ticketing them for “عرقلة” which means obstruction.

What exactly are these cars obstructing (for example the 4 pictured on top)? I checked the tickets and noticed he left the space where he’s supposed to explain what the ticket is for blank. That can’t be right or fair can it?

The beautiful and recently refurbished (or should I say completely rebuilt) Al Shaheed Park which I posted about [Here] is now officially open to the public. They’re open every day from 5AM to 10PM except on Fridays where the park is open from 1PM to 10PM. There is no entrance fee but there are some park rules which are the following:

– No smoking
– No littering
– No use of bicycles, skateboards, skates, or recreational scooters inside the park.
– No outside Food or beverages.
– No barbecues or picnics.
– No pets allowed.
– No damaging any part of any building, sign, sculpture.
– No picking or damaging any flower, plant or tree
– No writing on the walls.
– No stepping inside the lake and fountains.
– No sitting on railings or climbing on any part of the buildings.
– No engaging in business or commercial activity inside the park without authorization from the Park Management.
– No distribution or placement of notices or advertising device without approval of the Park Management.
– No film or photography requiring equipment or exclusive use of an area without permit from the Park Management.
– Please supervise your children at all times to ensure their safety.
– Please note that stepping on grass is not allowed except in the Circle of Peace, Amphitheater and around the Constitution Monument. Baby Strollers are not allowed on the grass except for wheelchairs
– Please note that the Park management has the right to ask visitors who violates the rules & regulations of Al Shaheed Park to leave the park immediately.
– Please note that the park management reserves the right, if necessary, to stop picture taking and video recording.

The rule I had an issue with is regarding the no film or photography but after asking them about it, turns out its geared more towards commercial photography and not personal photography.

So if you’ve been wanting to check out the park you now can. For more information check out their instagram account [Here]

I have a huge wall in my apartment I needed to fill and wasn’t sure how. I figured I might either get some shelves or possibly a painting but I also didn’t want to pay a ridiculous amount of money for it. Originally I was looking for a specific Andy Warhol Camouflage print but after having a difficult time procuring one I decided to give up on that dream. In the end I went with a super large black and white photo from a website called Sonic Editions.

I originally found out about Sonic Editions because they had a Dave Grohl photo reenacting the old Maxell blown away guy (pictured above). All their photos are limited to just 495 prints and after flipping through hundreds of photos I finally fell in love with one, Al Pacino on the set of the movie ‘Serpico‘ in New York in 1973. The only issue was the largest size they had the photo available on the website was 60x75cm and I needed one much larger. So I emailed them and asked if they could customize a size for me, one that was 80×100 (100x120cm with the frame) and they said yes they could. They also would ship directly to Kuwait at a fairly reasonable price of around KD55.

I placed the order and around 20 days later I received the print framed. Everything about it exceeded my expectations. First the package was huge and barely fit sideways in my FJ Cruiser. Any larger and I would have needed a pickup truck probably. The frame was packaged extremely well and when I finally got all the packaging out of the way I was very impressed with the quality of the photo print as well as the quality of the frame. The workmanship was top notch and there was even a patch on the back of the frame with details of the photo including the photographers name, where it was shot, the date and the limited edition number. I was blown away at how easy it was to order and ship the photography to Kuwait and I’m now looking for another one to order for a different room.

So if you’re looking to purchase an artwork for your wall, check these guys out www.soniceditions.com

One of my favorite UFC fighters, the legendary Anderson Silva is coming to Kuwait this weekend for the opening ceremony of Gold’s Gym. This caught me by complete surprise when I found out and I have no idea how they managed to pull it off. I was lucky enough to be put in touch with the organizers Activate Kuwait (Thanks Pat), the same guys who brought the BASE jumper to Kuwait to jump off Al Hamra Tower. I managed to get myself a VIP ticket to the event as well as a ticket to giveaway on the blog.

There will be a bunch of activites taking place at the opening including:
– Live radio broadcast on FM88.8
– Spin the wheel game with valuable prizes to be won
– DJ
– Bike show
– Percussion artist Albert Boyadjian will be performing
– Anderson Silva will meet and greet people

The event is open to the public but the general admission crowd will be located outside the Gold’s Gym premises while the VIP ticket (which you can’t buy FYI) will grant you access inside the building. The VIP ticket will allow you to hang out and chill with Anderson Silva inside the gym as well as guarantee you a photo with Anderson Silva as well as an autograph if you want one.

Just incase I wasn’t clear, ANDERSON SILVA IS COMING TO KUWAIT! I’m definitely going to have him sign my UFC tshirt which so far has signatures from Dan Henderson, Brian Stan, Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping and a few other fighters.

If you’re an Anderson Silva fan and would like to win a chance to meet him then all you need to do is answer the following question in the comments: Who did Anderson Silva last fight in the UFC?

Rules: The comments will be closed tomorrow morning. Winner will have to pick up ticket from Salmiya. Only one entry per person and please make sure you use a working email since the winner will be contacted by email. If winner doesn’t respond, another winner will be randomly chosen.

Update: Post has been closed for commenting

Update2: Using random.org I chose a winner which was commentator #57, Tania. Email has been sent, if she does not respond in time a second winner will be chosen. Thank you everyone for participating. Just a reminder you can still pass by and get the chance to see Anderson Silva in person but, depending on the amount of people at the event, you may or may not get a chance for a photo opportunity with him.

I’ve had my Vespa for over 6 months now and not only have I not gotten bored of it, but I love it even more than ever. It’s by far my best purchase of 2014. As I mentioned in part 1 of my review, whenever I’m riding my Vespa I feel like I’m on a vacation and 6 months later that feeling hasn’t changed one bit.

I don’t even know where to begin this post because there are so many great things about living with a Vespa. The obvious one is the fact there is no traffic when you’re on a Vespa. Throughout the past 6 months whenever I had any kind of work in the city or Shuwaikh during the day, the Vespa was my go to ride. You would think any motorbike would fair the same in traffic but that’s not true because scooters are much more agile and nimble. In Shuwaikh where there’s lots of road construction taking place the cars don’t really line up properly because the lanes aren’t properly divided. So you could be making your way between the cars in traffic and then get to a point where the cars are just too close too each other and you’re stuck.. unless you’re on a scooter. Scooters are much more lighter and more compact so it’s so much easier to just weave your way between cars in traffic and the fact the Vespa has an automatic gearbox also means it’s quicker and less of nuisance to stop and start. There hasn’t been a single traffic jam yet in which I wasn’t able to make it to the very front.

Imagine if the roads were empty all day long… thats life with my Vespa.

I own the Vespa Sprint which has a 125cc engine. It’s not that fast, the maximum speed is around 95km/h and I can sometimes hit just over 100 when going downhill. Although that doesn’t sound fast it’s more than enough when riding on the Gulf Road or even the 4th Ring Road where the maximum speed is 80km/h anyway. Vespa do have have different models with larger engines but the bikes themselves are also slightly larger and heavier. My Sprint is usually the first off the line at a traffic light but after that acceleration is fairly slow. But really you don’t need the bike to be faster since it’s not like you’re going to ride the Vespa down to the chalets on the weekend, it’s for city errands and at that I can’t imagine anything performing better. Even though my Vespa isn’t fast I still ride like a hooligan because the bike gives so much confidence. Probably too much confidence because I slid and fell at a small roundabout near my house a couple of months back scratching up the left side of my bike. Luckily my favorite pair of jeans and sneakers were unharmed.

The Sprint has a good amount of storage space in case you do some shopping. Under the seat you’ve got a large compartment which I use to store my helmet in and you also have a small glove compartment in the front which I use to store my phone and wallet. In case there isn’t enough space under the seat for your grocery bags, there is a small hook that comes out from the seat in the front which you can hang your bags on. I also love the retro looking analogue speedometer since it adds a lot of character to the bike.

A lot of people have asked me if you need a license to ride a Vespa and the answer is yes, you need a motorbike license to ride one. That wasn’t an issue for me since I got my license years ago when I got my first motorbike, but it’s still worth noting for anyone considering getting one.

With all the traffic issues in Kuwait I’m surprised not more people have gotten scooters. It’s obviously impossible to ride one in the blazing summer heat but there are at least 6 months a year where the weather is great for them. I really don’t have anything negative to say about my Vespa, maybe if there was a built in USB port to charge my phone that would have been convenient but actually thinking about it now, I probably could get one installed easily. Honestly it’s so much fun riding a Vespa I can’t stop recommending it to people. Get one if you can.

This is a little bit off topic from my usual posts but I need two things:

Badminton
So recently I started playing badminton with a friend with IBAK (Indian Badminton Association – Kuwait) and I’m not that great. So I’m looking for a private trainer, if anyone knows of one let me know.

Skateboarding
I also recently fell in love with a skateboard (pictured on top) and I bought it. I’ve been wanting to skateboard ever since I was a kid but never got the chance to so if any skateboarder here is willing to give me some private lessons as well, let me know.

#midlifecrisis

Acura, the luxury division of Honda have opened up their first showroom in Kuwait. I passed by the first time two weeks ago before they opened and was given a tour of the place, and earlier today I went back to take some photos now that it’s actually open. According to the Acura representative who was showing me around, the Acura showroom in Kuwait is the largest Acura showroom in the world. They actually don’t like calling it a showroom but instead prefer using the world facility since it’s a one stop shop for everything Acura.

Acura is a premium brand and the showroom lives up to it. The building is huge and very tastefully decorated with lots of light colors and lots of natural daylight everywhere. As I said earlier, they prefer to call it a facility because of the fact you have the main showroom in the front, a quick service garage in the back, a body and paint shop in the basements and a spare parts store all under the same roof.

Right now the dealer is carrying two Acura models to start off with, the TLX which is a four-door luxury sedan and the MDX which is their luxury SUV. My first question obviously was if they were getting the NSX since thats the car I’m extremely interested in. Turns out they will be getting it once it launches next year. Not only that but their facility is already prepared for it, they have a special location on the showroom floor where they will be displaying the car as well as a special section of their garage designed specifically for the NSX maintenance.

I can’t believe its taken this long for Acura to get here but glad it’s here now that the NSX is getting released. The new showroom is located in Al-Rai right next to Xcite Electronics. Their opening hours are from 8:30AM to 8:00PM.

A reader posted the following story in the community forum and I figured I would share it here as is:

It was a routine day with a regular issue “I didn’t receive my registered mail”. I bought an item and that was shipping via registered mail from Singapore; status is showing that it has reached Kuwait on 10th of March and today was 24-March-2015.

During this gap from 10 to 24, I’ve been to Kaifan Central Post Office, Abu Halifa post office, KOC post office Ahmadi and Ahmadi Post office 3 Times.

Long story short either I was told to go to my area post office which is Ahmadi or simply “Maa Fi” and waived away. During my 3 visits to Ahmadi post office; I heard it a lot “Maa Fi” and few times that it didn’t came.

Luckily one day I was surfing net for any possible help or solution, I came to Ministry of Communication “Postal Sector” Site; on that page is a picture of Asst. Undersecretary and link to the site which is in Arabic and contains some basic info.

Site: https://moc.kw/English/post.html

Randomly I sent a text to Asst. undersecretary Engineer Meiagib Nasser Al-Dossary, and after 45 minutes I got a mobile call from Airport Post office, that guy asked my tracking number and found it in less than two minutes saying that “We received it back from your area Post Office” and you will receive it after 2 days from your own area.

I didn’t almost believed that, kind of shock that a mail I’m searching can be found so easily. I got a call from another guy and asked me same details and asked about problems I faced at area Post Office. I told him that they have found it at airport “returned”.

I believe all thanks to Mr. Meiagib Nasser Al-Dossary (Asst. Undersecretary). After those two calls, I got a call from him “sorry for delay and in future if I need any postal help I can contact him”; that felt very nice.

To check that further, I spread the word out of this help and asked my friends (who are also waiting for their registered mail) to contact him and results was again the same. He was helpful and guided them to write person.

I believe Mr. Meiagib is kind enough to let anyone contact him for help and solve the issues.

It surely can be one of the good things in Kuwait. I hope anyone get help from this incident.

I have a package that I need to pick up this week from the post office, should be routine but we’ll see how it goes.

Photo by Mathai