Search: “cop”

Sony is launching the PlayStation Classic in Kuwait on December 3rd. If you haven’t heard about this, Sony is releasing a mini version of the original PlayStation with 20 built-in games that include:

Battle Arena Toshinden
Cool Boarders 2
Destruction Derby
Final Fantasy VII
Grand Theft Auto
Intelligent Qube
Jumping Flash!
Metal Gear Solid
Mr. Driller
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
Rayman
Resident Evil: Director’s Cut
Revelations: Persona
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Syphon Filter
Tekken 3
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six
Twisted Metal
Wild Arms

The console will plug into your TV using HDMI and will run over USB power. I’m a bit disappointed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night isn’t included in the Classic since it was my favorite game on the PlayStation, so I haven’t’ decided yet if I am going to pick one up. But, if you’re interested in a bit of nostalgia, the official price for the PlayStation Classic is going to be KD35 in Kuwait and you can secure a copy by pre-ordering one from the GamesQ8 website [Here]

Update: It’s now available on the Xcite website [Here]

Earlier this week Xcite hooked me up with the brand new iPad Pro 12.9-inch that was recently released by Apple. I hadn’t really considered getting the 12.9-inch iPad Pro until I realized it would be a great way to edit my photos using Adobe Lightroom. I’ve had the iPad now for less than a week and still need to pick up the Apple pencil and keyboard, but I wanted to post my initial impression first until I get the rest of the stuff.

My current Mac setup at home is composed of a 27-inch iMac which I use mostly for my design work, a 13-inch MacBook Pro which I use as my daily computer, and a 9.7-inch iPad Pro I use for random things like watching YouTube videos in bed or when I want to chill and browse the web at a coffee shop. Most of the reviews online have been discussing if the new iPad Pro’s can replace your computer, I wasn’t looking to do that instead, I wanted it as a supplementary device to my current setup. My first impression so far? I’m loving it.

The thing that surprised me the most is the thickness and size of the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro. It’s thinner than my iPhone XS and even though I had read that in the reviews, I didn’t believe it until I put the iPad next to my phone. I compared the size of the iPad to various mac devices and you can see some of those comparisons below with more on my instagram acccount @mark248am. It’s clearly a much more manageable size compared to the older larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

So far I’ve mostly been using the iPad to edit the photos I took of the Ferrari Portofino I test drove a few days ago. I’ve been using Adobe Lightroom and the process has been super smooth. Because the new iPad Pro uses USB-C, I was able to connect my Sony A7 III camera to the iPad and copy all the photos easily and I’m loving the experience so far.

Really my only gripe with the new iPad so far is that it’s a fingerprint magnet (more than usual). Both my older 9.7-inch iPad Pro and my iPhone don’t capture as many fingerprints and it really shows on the screen both when turned on and off. I guess things will improve once I get the Apple Pencil but still, this is pretty annoying.

Once I get the pencil and keyboard I’ll post a more thorough review but for now, if you’re interested in picking up a new iPad Pro I think Xcite still have a few left [Link]

A friend sent me the drone footage above of the Fahaheel Expressway flooded in Mangaf. The highway is completely submerged underwater and looks like a river. It’s supposed to rain worse tonight… [YouTube]

Thanks XBS

My favorite local band Galaxy Juice released a new music video last week called Pantagonia. It’s a track from their upcoming EP and like all their previous music videos, it’s pretty weird and trippy so check it out above.

If you like their music you can follow them on [Instagram] [Twitter] or [Facebook]

Last week I posted about how the housekeepers category on the popular 4Sale website bothered me since they were basically allowing housekeepers to be sold like slaves (check the picture above). Someone at 4Sale definitely reads my blog since that same night they started cleaning up the housekeepers category. They removed all the posts where housekeepers were being sold in and introduced a new set of rules. When you now visit the housekeepers category on their website you get the popup below:

Roughly translated, the pop up says the following:

Dear customers, in accordance with the instructions from the cybercrime unit at the Ministry of Interior, please take into consideration the following points when posting advertisements in the housekeepers category:

– avoid posting pictures of the housekeepers or copies of their official documents
– avoid using the word maid and instead describe them as domestic workers
– you’re not allowed to mention their religion, skin color or price
– you’re not allowed to use the word for sale

Actually, now that I think about it, it’s possible that someone from the cybercrime unit actually reads my blog and not 4Sale. In any case, I still think more can be done by 4Sale. While browsing through the category I found a few posts that violated the new rules, but I personally think the whole category needs to be shut down anyway.

Best Electronics have a new service which uses tech by the company Doob to 3D scan your full body and then print you out as a miniature figurine. The result looks pretty realistic and they have a lot of different examples on display for you to check out. I held one figurine and it felt light and fragile, so I wouldn’t give it to a kid to play with, they’re more for displaying not for playing with.

Although it’s pretty cool, especially if you end up getting a 3D scan of you and your friends together, there are two big negatives. The first is that they print these figurines in Germany, which means you need to wait around three weeks to see the results. The second thing is the cost. They can print different sizes figurines but the smallest one which is shorter than your iPhone costs KD40, while the largest size is KD230. If you and your friends get a group shot you have to pay per individual. So if you’re four guys and you want to print out the smallest size that’s 4 x KD40 for one copy.

If you’re interested to check this out, the “Doob” booth is located in Best Electronics at Boulevard in Salmiya. [Google Maps]

Thanks Sabah

Not sure how I didn’t hear about this earlier but Anas Abdin, an expat living in Kuwait is currently suing CBS and Netflix in the US for copyright infringement. Anas is an indie game developer and the new Star Trek seems to have copied a lot of ideas from his game Tardigrades.

I just watched the video on top that explains the lawsuit and I can’t believe how much Star Trek ripped off from his game so I hope he wins.

He has a bit more information about the lawsuit on his website so check it out [Link]

Because I live in an apartment building that was constructed in the 80s, the central AC is no longer strong enough to cope with the hot weather and so I installed a couple of split units in my place. A couple of evenings ago I noticed that one of the units had ran out of refrigerant gas since it was blowing out uncooled air. So I called up the Xcite support number and connected to their AC service department.

The whole experience was super smooth, I told the guy I needed someone to come over check my AC since it wasn’t working. He asked me what brand my AC was, he then confirmed my address (they have my mobile number on their system) and then told me that they would send someone over the next morning and that the cost to send someone over was KD10, but that amount would be deducted from the repair cost.

Next day I get a call from the repair guy asking if I was home, then two guys come over, check the AC and let me know there was a refrigerant leak. They fix the leak, refill my unit with refrigerant gas and charge me KD15 for the whole thing. In under an hour, they were gone.

This was the second time I had a great experience with their AC service department. I love how quick they are in sending someone over and how smooth the whole process is which is why I wanted to post about them. If you ever run into AC trouble and want to get things fixed asap, I highly recommend you give them a call. Their number is 1803535.

Since Mogahwi closed down next to my place in Salmiya, I’ve resorted to going to Jarir in Boulevard Mall since that’s currently the closest decent stationary shop to me. But, I might stop doing that after dropping by Mogahwi’s Kuwait City location yesterday.

I used to pass by the Kuwait City branch whenever I needed anything urgently for work since it’s right down the street from me. But the store was old and outdated and I generally didn’t like shopping there.

But recently they gave the Kuwait City store a much-needed facelift. Other than the fact they’ve improved the lighting and given the space a paint job, they’ve also expanded the store and brought in a lot more brands and new items. They’ve now got a much larger variety of arts and crafts supplies as well as a large variety of spray paint brands including popular brands like Montana. They even have their own resident artist.

So if you’re a fan of Mogahwi but hated the Kuwait City store like me, then you should pass by now and check it out. They’re open daily from 9AM to 9PM except for Fridays when they open from 4:30PM. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

PS: If you’re a Copic Markers fan they now carry a very large assortment of their pens. (they still cost an arm and a leg though)

If you grew up with Swatches in the 80s then you’ll most likely recognize the X-Rated Swatch that was released in 1987, the GB406. I never had one, instead around that time I had the more colorful Swatch Navigator, the GB707. A couple of days back I was on eBay looking for a clean, but well-priced GB707 when I noticed someone selling a boxed X-Rated watch for around $120 which seemed weird. Usually, the original black X-Rated watch sells for around $500, and one in this condition would be even more. I realized something was up and quickly googled the X-Rated Swatch to find out Swatch had re-released the model last month!

It was around 11PM but since its Ramadan, I knew shops were still open. I called up one of the Swatch stores and asked if they had the watch in stock and I was told that the black ones had been pulled from the stores, but the red one was still available. I knew I could order the watch online but figured I’d head over to the store and try the red one out to see how it looked on my wrist, but also to get clarification on the “pulled” aspect of the black ones. I’ve had situations similar in the past with Swatch where a highly desirable model is usually put aside for their good customers/collectors.

I get to the Swatch store and start talking to the salesperson who turned out knew their vintage Swatches. She actually pulled out the store’s copy of the highly desirable and difficult to find “Swatch-Clopedia” and we started going through it. After reminiscing over classic Swatches from the 80s and early 90s, and then showing me some stock of old Swatch Guards they still had in store, I was about to leave when she told me to hold on. She picked up the phone and called her brand manager and told him there was a customer in the store who wanted the black X-Rated Swatch. She hung up the phone, went away for a minute and came back with a black X-Rated watch. She told me her brand manager told her it was ok to sell me one and I ended up paying the KD21 price and leaving with it.

The watch is pretty great looking and practically resembles the original 1987 version with very minor differences. Old Swatches tend to have small diameters but the new X-Rated is 41mm which is similar to most modern watches, I think it looks really good when worn. If you’re interested in this watch and can’t get it in Kuwait, there are a ton of people on eBay selling it for around $120 which is still reasonable. But of course, nothing beats walking into a store and paying retail price for one.

A lot of people have been contacting me asking me why I’m late with this list. I’m not late. I tend to put this list together after Ramadan starts since a lot of restaurants (or the people who work there at least) tend not to know about the prices until after Ramadan begins. Once Ramadan starts I usually need 2-3 days to call the 60 restaurants up because its time consuming and I don’t want to spend over an hour and a half on the phone in one go. Like always, I’ve highlighted the price increases over the previous year in red, and the decreases in green. The list is divided into two parts, hotels and restaurants and you can check it out below:

Hotels

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD7 (-3.000)
Telephone: 24590000

Courtyard by Marriott
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD16 (+1.050)
Telephone: 1848111

Four Seasons – Jawaher Tent
Buffet Price: KD21
Telephone: 2200 6000

Hilton Resort – Teatro Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22256222

Inn & GO Hotel – Al Dallah Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD10.5 (+0.600)
Telephone: 22436686

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD19
Telephone: 22269600

JW Marriott – Al Thuraya
Buffet Price: KD15
Telephone: 22455550

Millennium Hotel & Convention – Lamar International Restaurant
Set Menu Price: KD14
Telephone: 22050505

Movenpick – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD11 (-1.000)
Telephone: 24610033

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15
Telephone: 22253100

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 25673000

Safir Hotel – Fintas
Buffet Price: KD15 (+0.500)
Telephone: 25455555

Sheraton – Coral Tent
Buffet Price: KD20 (+2.250)
Telephone: 22422055

Symphony Style Hotel
Buffet Price: KD14 (+2.000)
Telephone: 25770000

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 25766880

Restaurants

Abdel Wahab
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 1821000

Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15.950 (+1.000)
Telephone: 1823888

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD11 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22533377

Avanti Palace
Set Menu Price: Vegetarian KD3.100 – Non Vegetarian KD3.500 (both min 4 people)
Telephone: 25751081

Babel
Set Menu Price: KD13.5
Telephone: 22081111

Baker & Spice
Set Menu Price: KD8.750
Telephone: 22407707

Burj Al-Hamam
Buffet Price: KD12 (-0.500)
Telephone: 22529095

Café Bateel
Set Menu Price: KD10
Telephone: 22270204

Dar Hamad
Buffet Price: KD16 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22275555

Enab Beirut
Set Menu Price: KD20 (for two people)
Telephone: 90009874

IKEA
Set Menu Price: KD2.950
Telephone: 1840408

Jeans Grill
Buffet Price: KD8.500
Telephone: 22264503

Kosebasi
Set Menu Price: KD9.750
Telephone: 22251303

Kuwait Towers
Buffet Price: KD11
Telephone: 22081999

La Brasa Argentinian Grill
Set Menu: KD11
Telephone: 99052419

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD10.950 (-1.550)
Telephone: 22268666

Ovo Bar
Set Menu: KD9.500
Telephone: 22272171

Palm Palace
Buffet Price: KD8.900 (-0.350)
Telephone: 25756331

Paul
Set Menu: KD7.250
Telephone: 22208204

Ruby Tuesday
Set Menu Price: KD7.950
Telephone: 22444454

Tallu Hbabna
Buffet Price: KD5 (-5.000)
Telephone: 51113700

Veranda
Set Menu Price: KD12.000 (-0.500)
Telephone: 22283141

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD9.500
Telephone: 22650052

Zafran
Buffet Price: KD8
Telephone: 22285203 or 97281007

If you’d like to add a restaurant to the list above [Email Me]

Note: The prices listed above are for adults. Some restaurants offer special prices for children. I will add more restaurants to this list as I find out about them.

There are a lot of companies or brands I don’t like, and only a very few I really really dislike or hate. To get me to really hate you would take a lot of effort (suing me is one way *cough* Benihana *cough*), and somehow beIN have managed to really piss me off. I’m not going to spend a lot of time dwelling on this but to summarize, I only use them to stream Formula 1 races, and when I’ve run into problems, they had extremely horrible customer service. But, I finally found another way to legally (kinda) watch the F1 races… F1 TV.

Before I continue, yes I am aware there are multiple ways to stream the F1 races illegally. Personally, I always try to go the as legal way possible route, unless I hit a wall and then I resort to piracy.

If you’re a Formula 1 fan and you follow the news, you might be aware that Formula 1 just launched F1 TV. Depending on where you reside, you’ll be able to subscribe to F1 TV and have access to their full archive of races as well as being able to stream their current races live via their website.

F1 TV in Kuwait
Kuwait sadly isn’t one of the countries where F1 TV will work. I think that has to do with the agreement F1 have with beIN but since beIN is so buggy, I had to find a way to get F1 TV working in Kuwait and I managed to do just that. To get F1 TV working in Kuwait you need two things:

– VPN with an American server
– Credit card issued by an American bank

The first is easy to get, there are hundreds of options available online and my guess is that pretty soon you’ll also be able to use smartDNS to access F1 TV like we do to get access to US Netflix and Hulu. The credit card on the other hand is much harder to get. I got mine while vacationing in the States but I think there are ways of getting one online although I haven’t tried them. Once you’ve got these two things you can just subscribe to F1 TV and get access.

What’s F1 TV Like?
There are two F1 TV packages, F1 TV Access, and F1 TV Pro. Access doesn’t allow you to stream the races live but with the Pro package you can. If you pay month by month, Access is $3 a month while Pro is $12. If you sign up for a year then the prices drop down considerably with Pro coming to $8 a month, the same price beIN charge for one day access.

This past race was the first time F1 TV went live and it was super buggy. It was so bad that F1 TV sent out an apology and a refund because they weren’t able to cope with the load this past weekend. But, thats fine, it was their first weekend live and nobody was expecting them to be perfect.

When it did work though the service was spectacular, more than anything beIN could offer or any other channel for the matter.

– During practice, qualifications and the race you get access to the cameras inside every single car. So if you’re a Verstappen fan, you can choose to view the camera in his car, and then watch him race until he crashes into something.

– During practice, qualifications and the race you get access to different audio channels. When watching the main stream you can choose to listen to commentary in different languages, or you can choose not to have any commentary at all and just have car sounds. While watching the race from inside the car of your favorite driver, you get an additional option of being able to listen to the team radio.

– With F1 TV you get access to 68 seasons of races! SIXTY EIGHT seasons of Formula 1 racing, that’s just insane. Last night I was rewatching the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix when half the cars crashed at turn one of the race. I then watched a documentary on one of my favorite drivers of all time, Mika Häkkinen. Even if F1 TV didn’t include the archive, I would have easily forked out $8 a month just to stream the races live. The fact that they’ve included so much content with this $8 is an incredible bonus.

As you can tell, I’m very excited about F1 TV. If you’re an F1 fan and have any questions about the service let me know. There are some negatives right now with F1 TV including the lack of an Apple TV app being one. Currently I’m using the browser on my iPad to watch F1 TV which is annoying, but they only properly launched a few days ago so they’re still super busy working out all the kinks and I’m expecting them to launch an app soon. Things will only keep getting better from this point onwards.

Back in January I swapped out my Lotus Exige S with the Exige 380 Cup, a lighter and more powerful version of the Exige that was more track focused. I still remember when I posted about my Exige S after getting it, I had linked to a Exige 380 Sport video and I remember thinking, damn I wish I had the 380 Sport instead. It was faster, more aggressive and looked slightly better. And now, I’ve got the 380 Cup which is an even more extreme version. Someone pinch me!

Anyway, here is a rundown of the car after doing around 4,500KM on it plus taken it to the Bahrain International Circuit for a track day.

The Good
I was hoping because the car was so stiff and rough, I wouldn’t drive it a lot so I could keep the mileage low, but that didn’t happen. I’ve been driving the car daily since I got it, racking up miles like I would in any normal daily driver. I don’t have sound isolating carpeting in the car, just floor mats, so I can see the aluminum car frame as well as hear alot of the road noise. And I love the sound of the road under my car even the sounds of little pebbles hitting the underside of the car. Just makes me feel more connected to the road.

I also still love climbing in and sitting inside the tiny cockpit, and I love how the car feels on the road. Road clearance isn’t that much of an issue and since I tend to spend most of my time driving from my home to the office using the Gulf Road, I don’t have problems with crappy roads.

Unlike my previous Exige this one has a manual gearbox and I do have mix feelings about it. Not the specific manual gearbox in this car which is incredible, but more on the idea if I prefer an automatic over a manual gearbox. Car guys are going to say manual is the way to go but personally, I’m 50/50 split on this. On the one side, the thing I like most about this car is the analog feel of it. There isn’t much technology in this car, the interior is very simple and so the manual gearbox works really well with the overall feel of the car. I like the metal clunks the gearbox makes when I shift gears, I like trying to match my revs or practicing my heel and toe skills when slowing down. But, I also miss the convenience of an automatic gearbox especially when I get stuck in traffic.

The Bad
I haven’t really had any issue with the car other than the fact this past weekend while on the racetrack the hatch on the front of the car was coming loose whenever I hit 200km/h. Not fun and I had to keep coming back into the pits to push the hatch back down. You can actually see it happening in the video above, if you look at the left corner where the black carbon fiber hatch meets the blue bodywork at the 3:12 minute mark, you’ll see the front hatch lift up.

The Ugly
The only other issue I’ve had isn’t really an issue for me, but more for the cops. The car exhaust has a valve, in normal driving the car is quiet, too quiet which I don’t like. So I usually have the car in sport mode which opens up the exhaust valve. The problem then is the car becomes too loud, like I’d be driving 40km/h but from the sound of it you’d think I was doing 140km/h. It attracts tooo much attention from the cops and since I get stopped for no reason anyway, this doesn’t make life any easier. Oh and I’ve definitely been traumatized by the cops! This weekend while I was on the racetrack, I swear at some points I was worried I was gonna get pulled over or get caught by a speed camera. I’m convinced its some sort of PTSD.

Mods
There isn’t much in terms of modifications I can do to this car since Lotus already upgraded everything in it that can be upgraded. The sound system is really shit but I’m not going to upgrade it since I did that with my last Exige and the sound wasn’t that much of an improvement since the speakers that fit are pretty small. So the only upgrade I did was install a harness bar along with a 4-point racing harness for the driver’s seat. I can still use my regular seatbelt for day to day driving but for track driving, I can now use the 4-point belt instead. The advantage of the 4-point system is that it allows you to become one with the car. Once you tighten it up you can’t move anymore, you’re just glued to your seat which allows you to feel the car a lot more.

Plan B
Before I got the 380 Cup I did consider other cars. The most obvious car was the Porsche 911. They’re hot, super practical and really easy to drive. I’d love a 911 GT3 or GT3RS, and I think a black Targa is one of the most beautiful cars out there. But, the problem with Porsches is that everyone has one. They just aren’t special anymore, it’s like owning a Rolex. On track days they’re the most popular cars on track and I wouldn’t want to spend so much money and not feel special. Other cars I considered were second hand Ferrari 430’s and 458’s, as well as second-hand McLarens. My dream car right now is the baby McLaren, the 540c, but even second hand they cost around 50K. Then you’ve got the maintenance costs associated with Ferrari’s and McLarens, I don’t want to worry about that shit when I buy a car. With the 380 Cup on the other hand, because the car is so rare (1/60) it’s instantly special. On the track this past weekend it must have been the most photographed car even though there were McLarens, Ferraris, Lambos and Porsches. I like that.

So yeah, I still really love the car, I love the brand and the online Lotus community. I love the way my car looks and I love it even more with the roof off. I love the sounds it makes, the un-practicality of it, and I love watching my friends try to climb in and out of the car. Do I wish I had a McLaren 540c? For sure but I also wish I had a Ferrari F40, a Porsche 918, a Lancia Delta HF Integrale, my old Datsun 240z, a BMW E30 M3, a Golf GTI MK1 etc.. I’m a car guy so I’m always going to want more.