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You’d think the most stressful part of reviewing a Ferrari would be the part where I take a Ferrari out that isn’t mine, on roads which are in terrible condition, surrounded by people who can’t drive yet are all too busy on their phones and then try and bring the car back to the dealer in one piece. Instead, what really stresses me out is trying to find a place to shoot the cars. It’s so hard finding a nice clean backdrop for a shoot which I haven’t abused already like my favorite strip of road in the desert or the rooftop across from Mayar Complex. I can’t keep taking pictures in the same spot so I don’t take out as many cars out as I’d like. With Ferraris, it’s even more difficult since instead of having the car for the weekend like with most brands, I have to instead pick up the car early morning and then drop it off in the evening before they close. Sounds like a first world problem but when car dealers lend me a car, they’re hoping to get nice photos taken in return and I want to keep getting nice cars so I need to keep taking nice shots. With the Ferrari F12, this was the first time I was allowed to keep the car overnight so I decided to try something new.

The Ferrari F12 Berlinetta I picked up is part of the Ferrari pre-owned collection. It’s a 2016 model and had done around 6,500km when I picked it up. It’s the model the preceded the new Ferrari 812 SuperFast which I’m hoping to pick up sometime this week. The F12 has a 6.3L V12 engine producing 730HP making it the fourth most powerful Ferrari road car produced to date. That sounds crazy except then you find out that the F12 is actually meant to be a daily driver and you’re like wtf?! It’s got an insane amount of power, too much power for our fairly short and unexciting roads, but it also has all the comforts and luxury features you’d find on a high-end luxury car plus a large trunk in case you need to drop a friend off to the airport or pick up a few items from IKEA. It’s really why I had my eye on the car a couple of years ago.

At one point before getting my Lotus I was actually checking out the F12’s in the secondhand market. I really wanted the 4 seater Ferrari FF since it would have been the perfect daily driver, but since there weren’t any used ones for sale I started looking at F12’s since they were also meant to be great daily drivers. For the short time I had the F12 last week, I did find it very comfortable and pretty quiet when the windows rolled up. Yup quiet, the exhaust sound on the F12 sounds fairly normal when driving around like a normal human being and the cars sound proofing really helps isolate you from all the sounds outside the car. It’s really only once you lower the windows and get aggressive with your driving does it start sounding like the fourth most powerful Ferrari road car ever produced. I always like that good and evil side to cars, it makes the car more bareable to live with over the long run. Another thing I really loved about the F12 is the minimal interior and the fact you can’t see the stereo. The stereo is usually one of the first things in a car that quickly gets outdated, by integrating the sound system into the main car interface which is in the drivers dashboard next to the large RPM dial, there isn’t anything anymore to get dated. Even the car’s interface graphics have been kept to a minimal I presume to keep the car looking good for a very long time. I think it works.

Since I was able to keep the F12 overnight, I decided I wanted to try some light painting for my photo. To light paint a car you need to take it to a fairly dark area, then take the photo with a very long shutter speed while you paint the car with a light source, in my case a flashlight. What this allows you to do is keep the location around the car dark and moody, but get your car nicely lit. I ended up driving around close to midnight looking for an interesting parking lot to shoot the car before settling on the spot above. I think the shot came out pretty good for my first try at light painting. I actually think I could have light painted the top of the car slightly more but I only noticed that later once I got home and it was too late to do anything about it. If you want you can check out the photo of the car normally exposed without any light painting, click [Here]

After spending time with the F12 I can’t wait to take out the Ferrari 812. Actually while writing this post I realized I really want to take out the Ferrari FF and I think they have one or two pre-owned ones available so I might ask Ferrari if I could do that. For now, if you’re interested in checking out their pre-owned collection, you can do so online by visiting the Al-Zayani website [Here]

An incredibly packed weekend with lots of things happening. Hopefully I managed to add everything but in case I missed an event, let me know!

Thursday
The Kuwait Motor Show
Exhibition: RE_USE
Staging Emotions at Al Shaheed Park
Stitching Palestine – Embroidery Through the Ages
SpongeBob Celebrates 20th Anniversary at Al Kout Mall
Luxury Bazaar
White Expo Night Market
Global Game Jam 2019
The 965 Fashion Outlet
Electronic Gaming & Comic Festival
Carnival Festival

Friday
The Kuwait Motor Show
Exhibition: RE_USE
Stitching Palestine – Embroidery Through the Ages
SpongeBob Celebrates 20th Anniversary at Al Kout Mall
Luxury Bazaar
Global Game Jam 2019
The 965 Fashion Outlet
Alsouq Market
Garden Rendezvous
Concert: Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra
Electronic Gaming & Comic Festival
Carnival Festival
Crossfit Games – Flare Fitness Festival 2019

Saturday
The Kuwait Motor Show
Exhibition: RE_USE
SpongeBob Celebrates 20th Anniversary at Al Kout Mall
Luxury Bazaar
Global Game Jam 2019
The 965 Fashion Outlet
Vinyl Destination
CAP Movie Night: The Story of Qiu Ju
Electronic Gaming & Comic Festival
Carnival Festival
Hindrance Race – Flare Fitness Festival 2019
Crossfit Games – Flare Fitness Festival 2019

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.

Photo by Nelson Garrido

A few hours ago Kuwait Motor Town uploaded a coming soon trailer highlighting the various activities that will be available at the race track. I’m super excited since it looks like it’s finally happening. Check out the trailer above or on [YouTube]

There are two cars shows taking this weekend and I’m not gonna be here! The Auto Works Show is taking place at the Kuwait Fair Grounds while The Kuwait Motor Show is taking place at 360 Mall. There are other events taking place this weekend as well so check out the full list below:

Thursday
SADI 2019
European Handicrafts Exhibition
Auto Works Show
The Kuwait Motor Show
Al Shaheed Park Trivia Night

Friday
Friday Run
SADI 2019
European Handicrafts Exhibition
Auto Works Show
The Kuwait Motor Show
Staging Emotions at Al Shaheed Park

Saturday
SADI 2019
European Handicrafts Exhibition
Auto Works Show
The Kuwait Motor Show
Staging Emotions at Al Shaheed Park
Guided Tour: Arab Organization Headquarters

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.

Photo by Nelson Garrido

Since we’re on the subject of cars, exactly a year ago I picked up my 380 Cup from the dealership and since then I’ve done around 10,000KM on the car including four track days in Bahrain. Because Lotus isn’t very popular in Kuwait (or anywhere else really), I decided I’d do a writeup, a sort of a long term review of the car and the local dealership.

As some of you know I had another Lotus before this one. That one kept giving me random problems, but this Lotus has been pretty good so far. I’ve really only had two issues and both were minor:

– Front access panel would loosen up at high speed
– Hazard light button would get stuck sometimes

Both those issues were fixed easily under warranty. Speaking of which, my car’s warranty expires today since it’s just a 1-year warranty. This is the only Lotus I am aware of that has a 1-year warranty, I think the rest have 2 or 3 years but because mine is a special edition with only 60 built, it has just a 1-year. That really sucks but Lotus have the option to extend the warranty for another year for a fee. I’m currently waiting to hear from them how much that fee is, hopefully, it won’t be much.

I actually just got the car back from Bahrain this Sunday. I had kept the car in Bahrain for a bit more than 6 weeks so I could take part in open track days on the Bahrain International Circuit while saving money on having to keep shipping the car back and forth. I got three track days done and just brought back the car to Kuwait so I can get the oil changed and 10,000KM service done. My Lotus did not miss our horrible broken roads that’s for sure.

On the track, the car has been great. I pretty much drive it hard non-stop through the whole session and don’t run into any overheating issues or even brake pedal fade. After four track days, the brake pads are also still full and even the Michelin Cup 2 tires not that worn. Having a lightweight car definitely saves you a lot in consumables. On normal roads, day to day driving I find the car super fun to drive. My car is the European spec, not the GCC spec so it doesn’t have the secondary AC unit behind the seats which my previous Lotus had. I used to find that AC freezing cold 10 months out of the year and it was super annoying because you couldn’t turn off the secondary AC unit. With this Lotus, for 2 months of the year I drive it mostly at night, but then the rest of the year the AC is more than enough. I actually didn’t really face any major cooling issues during the summer, the AC cooled the car enough but I also always parked it in shaded parking. I’d imagine the car would take a long time to cool down if you parked it in the sun, but really I don’t miss the dual AC system of the GCC spec cars. If you’re wondering what the advantage of a Euro spec car is, basically because you have space behind the seats you can install a 4-way seat belt harness and bar. You can’t do that on GCC spec cars since that gap behind the seats is taken with the secondary AC unit.

Moneywise I haven’t really spent that much on the car. I paid around KD200 for the harness bar and 4-way seatbelt, I bought a new racing helmet and gloves, but that’s really it. Oh and I changed the oil back in December before sending the car to Bahrain and it cost me KD60 at the dealership. That isn’t too bad, double what I pay for my FJ, but also like a fifth of the cost of a Lamborghini oil change. So it’s reasonable in that sense. But I do have an issue with the dealer’s prices on parts. New brake pads at the dealer costs KD358, but the same OEM pads can be ordered online for KD100 and KD200 would get you some serious racing pads. I’m not to concerned about the price of the pads since I can just order them online when the time comes. But what I am concerned about is larger pieces like body panels. I’m worried if I crash on the race track how much the body panels and carbon fiber parts are going to cost and I’m too afraid to ask. I don’t think it’s the fault of the local dealer since the local dealer gets everything through Dubai. I think Lotus Dubai are the reason to blame on the high cost of parts.

Generally, though I’m really satisfied with Alghanim who are the local dealer’s. Everyone is just extremely friendly and helpful from the mechanics to the showroom manager up to the aftersales manager. I also love the fact that I’ve got the mechanics on Whatsapp and I just message them before I head over, it makes the service feel very personalized. My only gripes with the dealership are minor, the first being the fact I hate passing by the dealership and seeing dirty and dusty Lotuses parked outside. That cheapens the brand and there is no reason not to keep them nice and clean especially since they’re the test drive cars. The second issue I have is with their instagram account, it’s not very active, the stories they post are lame and their phones camera lens is always dirty. Again I feel it cheapens the brand. Not only that but whoever is running their instagram account doesn’t know their cars well and I’ve had to leave a comment more than once correcting them. Not only that but I setup an account for my car a few months ago (@380cup) and I get more likes and engagement than the dealers instagram account, so they’re clearly doing something wrong. I should probably work out some sort of deal with them where they hand over the account to me to manage in return I get like free service or something.

In the end, I’m really really happy with the car and I’m so glad I traded in my older Exige for this one. I still look back at the car after parking it and I still get excited every morning knowing I’ll be driving the Lotus to work. If you’re looking for a sports car you can track, I’d highly recommend the Lotus and the local Lotus dealership.

Looks like the Kuwait Motor Town race track is finally going to open after all the delays. The first open track is taking place next month on Friday, February 8th from 1PM to 5PM. Open Track is when the average joe can take their sports car to the track to race for fun.

I’m super excited that the track is finally opening, but the cost for participating in this first open track is KD150 which is super expensive. In comparison, an open track experience at the Bahrain International Circuit where I go is KD63 and an open track experience at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi is KD42.

I’m not sure if it’s KD150 because it’s the first open track being held at KMT and so they’re expecting a lot of people, or if this is going to be the price always. For now I’m going to play the waiting game and see how this first track day goes. But, if you’re interested in signing up for it then click [Here]

Photo on top by @81gram

Yesterday I dropped by a new department store that opened up called The District that carries a number of brands including UNIQLO and Lululemon. I was curious to check out the UNIQLO items since I tend to stock up on their t-shirts and socks whenever I’m in LA.

Just to be clear, this isn’t an official UNIQLO store. I ran into the owner while I was browsing and had a chat with him and turns out they tried bringing the UNIQLO brand to Kuwait but UNIQLO weren’t interested (even Alshaya are having trouble trying to get the brand). So, what they decided to do was buy UNIQLO products at normal retail price, ship them to Kuwait and slap their markup onto the items. How much of a markup? Well here are the prices of a bunch of random items so you can compare:

Low Cut Socks
Online: KD1.2
Kuwait: KD2

Dry Pique Short Sleeve Polo Shirt
Online: KD6
Kuwait: KD17.5

Fleece Long-Sleeve Full-Zip Jacket
Online: KD6
Kuwait: KD24

Oxford Slim Fit Long Sleeve Shirt
Online: KD9
Kuwait: KD24

Women Ezy Jeans
Online: KD12
Kuwait: KD30

Sprz NY Basquiat Short Sleeve Graphic T-Shirt
Online: KD4.5
Kuwait: KD24

Ouch right? But here is why their prices are so expensive. Stores tend to buy items at wholesale prices, so for example, if an item retails for KD10, the actual cost of the item to the store is around KD4. The KD6 difference would cover the cost of shipping, customs, salaries, rent, and profit. In this case, The District is purchasing the items at full retail price of KD10, then slapping on the cost of shipping, customs, salaries, rent and their profit resulting in the prices you see above. I didn’t check the Lululemon prices but I’m assuming its the same.

If you want to check the place out yourself, The District is located in Bida’a [Google Maps] and they’re also on instagram @thedistrict_kuwait

Thanks Aisha!

CEC Entertainment, Inc has signed development agreements with franchisees for 25 new Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurants across Mexico, Egypt, Kuwait, El Salvador and Bahrain, a news release said.

The company has been actively growing its international franchise footprint and currently operates 65 Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurants across 13 countries and territories outside the U.S., with the biggest concentration in Mexico and Saudi Arabia. [Source]

If you grew up in Kuwait during the 80s you’ll remember a place called Showbiz Pizza Place. In the US, Showbiz were actually direct competitors to Chuck E Cheese which was created by the Atari founder back in 1977. Chuck E Cheese went bankrupt in the early 80s and got purchased by ShowBiz Pizza Place. ShowBiz then went bankrupt themselves back in 1992 but Chuck E Cheese is still around somehow. I’ve only been to Chuck E Cheese once as a kid back in 1988 when I was in LA and all I remember is how similar it was to Showbiz. Back then it was full of arcade games and they even had an animatronic band like Showbiz. It was a lot of fun but not sure how relevant Chuck E Cheese is today…

Over the weekend I finally got to pass by Oak and Smoke and try the place out. Previously they only had delivery, but last month they opened up a new location in Shuwaikh and I’ve been meaning to pass by ever since.

For those of you that have been to the original RAW sushi place in industrial Shuwaikh, you’ll recognize the Oak and Smoke location since they took over the old RAW. BUT, they also took over the whole basement and that’s where the main restaurant is located. Getting down there is an experience which I think adds a lot to the place. The entrance to Oak and Smoke is through an alleyway which was softly lit with a red glow. Once we walked into the alleyway we started following a guy until we got into a large industrial elevator. With a press of a button we started going down and it felt like we were about to enter a club. The fact they were able to turn a simple thing as entering the restaurant into a very instagrammable moment is super smart and something a lot of their customers will share. After the short ride down the lift we walked into the restaurant which I think looks amazing. The ceiling had vintage metal ceiling tiles, the walls looked aged, there were two fake backlit windows and also beautiful chandeliers. I think it’s one of the coolest looking spots in Kuwait.

Oak and Smoke’s menu is pretty small with six starters and two mains. We ordered Tri-Tip for starters which is composed of thinly sliced beef and arugula over a horseradish cream, as well as some Vietnamese hot wings and then beef ribs and brisket for our mains. I didn’t have the wings but the Tri-Tip was good and kept us patient until our main dishes arrived. I’ll make this quick, just go there and order the ribs. Seriously, maybe with some soda but you’ll be more than satisfied with just ribs. It was just too good, super juicy and flaked off the bone so easily. We were 5 and we downed nearly 3KG of ribs in just a few minutes, and that was right after going through three orders of brisket!

The only thing I’d avoid at Oak and Smoke is their dessert which was a dish that combined of what looked like canned fruit served over white cream. They’d have a better dessert if they just served a jar of Nutella with a spoon. Other than the dessert there really isn’t anything to complain about. Pricewise, we were five people and ended up paying around KD18 each but that included 4 orders of brisket, 2.7KG of ribs, 2 plates of hot wings, 2 plates of tri-tip, fries, dessert, and drinks. If you’re looking for a new restaurant to try out I’d highly recommend experiencing Oak and Smoke. They take reservations so better call ahead just to be safe. They’re on instagram @oakandsmoke and you’ll find their number and link to their location there.

Zahed Sultan’s re_use exhibit opens up today at the Scientific Center with a special performance live in IMAX. Other than that, the rest of this weekends events are all on Saturday including Feed Market which takes place at the Zoo and Revive Sawaber event happening at Sawaber in the City. Check out the full list of events for this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Abstraction by Farouk Hosny
re_use / IMAX (Live)

Friday
Friday Run

Saturday
Feed Market
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
Revive Sawaber
Shinsawi: OUTDOOR volleyball
Book Club: Lord of The Flies by William Golding
Movies at the Park: Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

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.

Screenshot from Green Book

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

New This Weekend:
Black ’47 (6.9)
Green Book (8.3)
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (8.5)
Mia and the White Lion (6.9)
The Mule (7.2)
The Super (6.0)
Zoe (6.1)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Aquaman (8.2)
Backtrace (3.7)
Bumblebee (7.2)
Cold Skin (6.0)
Creed II (8.0)
Mary Poppins Returns (7.4)
Prospect (7.0)
Ralph Breaks the Internet (8.1)
Second Act (6.2)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (8.6)
The Grinch (6.1)
The Sisters Brothers (7.1)

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

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)
Planet Power 3D (N/A)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

Earlier in the week I posted about the new dumpling place Wu Fu Dumpling Bar but, the day I posted about them they closed down for some reason. But, they just reopened again today so if you wanted to try them out they’re now back online on Carriage.

The Bait Al-Othman Museum originally opened back in 2013 and I passed by it a few months after opening to check it out and post about it on the blog. But last week I went back to the museum again and to my surprise, it turned out they had expanded the museum considerably since my last visit 5 years ago.

I’m having a difficult time trying to decide how much information I should share about the place. When I visited the museum last week I went expecting to see the stuff I had seen the last time I was there, basically various rooms covering important aspects of Kuwait and its history. But once I started exploring some of the new sections which I hadn’t seen before, I realized Bait Al-Othman is by far one of the most bizarre and entertaining museums in Kuwait. I had such a good time that I want to go back again with more friends.

Some of the new areas of Bait Al-Othman felt like they had been taken from the now closed old Science Museum in Kuwait City. The museum has such a random combination of content including a small haunted house, loads and loads of stuffed animals and even a hostel. I really want to share more details but I think it would be a lot more fun to just go there without knowing too much about the place.

So if you haven’t been to Bait Al-Othman before or at least not recently, you should definitely pass by the place. The museum is located in Hawalli [Google Maps] with loads of parking space available. Their opening hours are from 9AM to 1PM and 4PM to 9:30PM everyday except on Fridays they don’t open in the mornings.

Pro Tip: You need around 3 hours or more to see everything, and make sure you visit all the rooms. There are some areas which look closed off but they lead to other areas. So explore it all.

On Saturday while at Qout Market, I got to try a new dumpling place called Wu Fu Dumpling Bar and it was delicious. It was so good I actually had it again last night at their restaurant. Well technically not their restaurant, they operate out of the kitchen of another restaurant that’s located inside Shuwaikh Market called Zoi. If you’ve never been to Shuwaikh Market, it’s a fairly gloomy looking place and pretty much dead all of the time. When I was there last night there was nobody else at the restaurant so the atmosphere was non existent. Also, if you’re expecting a Chinese theme of a sort then you’re also out of luck since Zoi is actually a Greek Restaurant with an interior that looks like an inside of old cottage with other parts looking like an outdoor garden. Not a nice place to sit, but I was there for the dumplings so didn’t really care.

Wu Fu are also on Carriage so you don’t have to visit the restaurant if you don’t want to, but I like my dumplings fresh out of the pot which is why I chose to go to them instead of have the food come to me. Last night Wu Fu were super busy with Carriage orders and I ended up waiting around 40 minutes for my two dumpling dishes. I actually had a third order but they had to cancel it for me since they ran out of it before it was my turn, in fact, they were pretty much out of everything on their menu last night. The food took forever to come and I was pretty frustrated, but when the food finally did arrive it was so good it made everything better. They were very apologetic about the delay, they just had a ton of Carriage orders and were trying their best to keep up.

I should mention that other than the fact their dumplings are delicious, they’re also reasonably priced. An order of dumplings which consists of 10 pieces costs around KD2.800. They have around ten different kinds of dumplings they make using either lamb, beef or chicken, as well as having vegetarian and vegan options available as well. But if yesterday was a regular day for them then it looks like they sell out from most of their stuff by around 7 or 8PM.

If you want to have the dumplings fresh then you can visit Wu Fu at Zoi in Shuwaikh Market or else find them on Carriage and maybe the next Qout Market. Check them out on instagram @wufu_kwt

Qout Market is back this coming Saturday and it’s taking place in Safat Square again (pictured above). Other than that there are a few other things going on this weekend, check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Abstraction by Farouk Hosny
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra

Friday
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra
Friday Run
Stargazing in AlSalmi Desert

Saturday
Sunrise Yoga
Qout Market
Exhibition: Abstraction by Farouk Hosny
Movie Discussion: 12 Angry Men
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra

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.