Search: “kuwait”

The largest and most prestigious cat show in the Middle East is taking place this weekend in Kuwait. The 2024 K-Cats Show is taking place at the Boulevard Ballroom tomorrow Friday, February 16th, and on Saturday February 17th.

The show is held in association with the prestigious Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) with judges coming in from the US and Europe for this event.

The show starts at 1PM tomorrow and 10AM on Saturday. If you’re looking for something random and unique to do this weekend, this is it.

For more info, click here.

I went to the show back in 2016 and thought it was fun, so definitely not going to miss it this year.

I’m having a horrible experience dealing with all the SMS ads Kababji keep sending me. I used to order from them a few times a week and for yeearrssss, but since I’ve started having issues with their ads and their social media teams complete lack of communication, I’ve stopped ordering from them.

I was a huge fan of the brand but now they really piss me off and all because they refuse to stop sending me ads. To make matters worse, they’ve started sending me Subway ads (they’re owned by the same company which is Kout Food Group), so I’ve also now decided to stop having Subway which I was having around once or twice a week before they started spamming me.

I don’t understand the thinking process sometimes. Like fine, you’re sending ads out to your customers without their permission, sure, whatever, but at least when the customer gets in touch with you and asks you to stop sending them ads, you stop.

Since I’m venting, Dear ZUE, I don’t need to give you my phone number when buying poop bags. Every time I tell the cashier I don’t want to give them my number, they get so confused and don’t know what to do. They insist on a number for me to pay, and when I give them a fake number they refuse to use it. So I keep telling them to put their own numbers and then after they argue amongst each other, the staff end up using their own numbers for the order. Like why all the drama? Why do you need a my real phone number just so I can pay for a poop bag? Like, I’m a fan of the place, products and services, but you have to change this annoying policy.

Rant Over.

I recently placed my first order from TEMU, the online Chinese marketplace which you probably heard about through your Tiktok feed. Surprisingly, my experience was great.

I was looking for a cover for my bicycle since I have my bike wall mounted and I recently repainted and didn’t want to get the wall dirty again. I ended up finding it for really cheap on TEMU and decided to order it. Here’s everything you need to know about ordering from TEMU:

• The bicycle cover cost 2.970KD but when I tried to check out it wouldn’t let me. TEMU offers free shipping to Kuwait, but you need to have an order of at least 13KD to qualify

• If you have an order less than 14KD, you can’t place an order, even if you want to pay for shipping, it’s not an option

• If the item you’re ordering is discounted and the new price is under 14KD, if the original price is over 14KD you get free shipping

• Finding at least 14KD worth of items you didn’t know you wanted is easy on TEMU

• I placed the order on January 25th and was given a delivery date between January 31st and February 8th

• On February 8th, I got a WhatsApp from a delivery company in Kuwait asking for my Google Maps location, the next day my package was delivered to my doorstep

• I ordered 15 items from different vendors, TEMU packaged them together and sent them to me in one bag

• I didn’t pay any customs fee, all taxes are included in the items prices

• Because the items were delivered one day later than promised, I got a credit of 1.250KD

So that’s basically it. The biggest surprise was the home delivery since I wasn’t expecting that, I thought I’d have to pick it up from the post office which I’m never looking forward to doing.

My order arrived with none of the items missing, and no disappointments. My bicycle cover was perfect, but so were all the other random things I ordered. I’m overall very impressed and would definitely recommend ordering from them.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments.

I’m not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I really hate the water balloons throwing trend as much as I used to hate the foam spraying. But… I also don’t think it deserves up to three years in prison in case you’re caught.

The environmental police in Kuwait have emphasized that throwing water balloons constitutes a violation of environmental protection laws. Offenders may face penalties of up to a KD 5,000 fine or imprisonment for a maximum of three years. source

I highly recommend you click the source link and watch the hilariously sounding English dubbed video which reminds me of old Kung Fu movies.

Crazy Pizza is a pizza concept by the same people behind Cipriani and Billionaire. They opened in Shuwaikh last year and are known for their delicious thin crust pizzas and pizza-spinning chefs.

To celebrate Kuwait National Day, Crazy Pizza have a brand new show running this month alongside their usual pizza-spinning performances. The show is exclusive only to the Kuwait branch and is going to be performed everyday for lunch and dinner throughout the month of February.

If you’re looking for a good pizza and entertainment like nothing else in Kuwait to go along with it, head over to crazypizzakw.com to reserve or call them on 99423011. They’re open daily from 1PM to 11PM. @crazypizza.kuwait

According to a source of mine, the popular South African franchise Nando’s is targeting to open in Kuwait on February 20th.

Nando’s originally opened at The Avenues back in 2007 but ended up closing down shortly after. This time, Apparel Group are bringing them back to Kuwait, the same company that brought Tim Hortons back, and also recently opened Jamie’s Italian.

Nando’s will have two locations in Kuwait initially, one in The Warehouse Mall and a second in Al Kout Mall. The tentative opening date could change due to unforeseen circumstances, so make sure you follow @apparelgroupofficial for the official announcement.

I posted about Autocapital last year, they’re a very easy to deal with one-stop shop that buys, sells, leases and rents cars. They’ve been around since 2018 and have been growing rapidly.

Last week, Autocapital opened their brand new showroom in Al-Rai, in place of where the Aston Martin dealership used to be. The new showroom is huge encompassing three floors with lots of cars on display.

I passed by the showroom to check it out for this post and I ended up getting a full tour of the facility, including the VIP area where they display supercars for sale that their owners prefer to keep private.

They had a pretty nice collection of cars on display, ranging from electric vehicles for lease, like Teslas and the Mercedes EQS, to cars for sale, like the Yaris GR, a classic 1948 Chevrolet Fleetline, and rare cars like the Hummer H1 Alpha. There’s a car for everyone and even motorbikes available for lease.

With high-interest rates and the cost of cars getting higher, lease-to-own or buying used makes a lot more sense nowadays. To find out more about Autocapital, visit their location in Al Rai, near The Avenues, autocapitalkw.com or their Instagram @autocapital.kuwait

Café Kitsuné, the popular sub-brand of the trendy French-Japanese lifestyle brand, Maison Kitsuné, is opening in Kuwait tomorrow (Sunday).

Their first location in Kuwait is opening outside the Abdullah Al-Salem Co-op and has a trendy interior with the Sadu pattern incorporated into the ceiling. It was designed in house by Café Kitsuné, but project managed locally by @soufikw.

For those of you who are fans of their music playlists, I was told the local playlist is controlled and streamed directly from Paris. So expect the same style of curated music.

They’re one of the cafes I tend to pass by for coffee while I’m in Paris, so it’s pretty cool that they’re now opening in Kuwait. If you want to pass by, starting tomorrow they’ll be open from 10AM to 10PM.

If you have children and are looking for activities to stimulate their minds, this post should interest you.

Let’s Explore is a dynamic program dedicated to nurturing creativity and curiosity in children aged between 4 and 12. They pop-up in different places around Kuwait and this month they’re based at the Yarmouk Cultural Centre.

Their classes are designed to inspire and empower young minds through hands-on experiences, and lots of exploration. It’s a great way for kids to discover new interests while also making new friends.

There are two types of classes currently available, Little Explorers and Future Engineers:

Little Explorers:
– 🧪 Chemical Engineering with Sensory Play
– 💡 Electrical Engineering
– 🔬 Science
– 🎨 Arts and Crafts

Ages: 4 to 6
Days: Monday and Wednesday
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:15 pm

Future Engineers:
– 🤖 Robotics
– 🛠️ Mechanical Engineering
– ⚡ Electrical Engineering
– 🚀 Aerospace Engineering

Ages: 7 to 12
Days: Monday and Wednesday
Time: 5:30 pm – 6:45 pm

There are limited seats available so if you want to sign up your child, click here.

You should also follow them on Instagram if you want to find out about their upcoming Ramadan location, they just shared it with me and it’s going to be really fun for the kids. Here is their account @letsexplorenonstop

The Henley Passport Index is released every year and is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). A passport is considered powerful based on how many countries people from that country can visit without needing a visa.

For 2024, Kuwait ranks 55 on the list with 102 visa-free destinations (check image below). Compared to neighboring GCC countries, Kuwait has the 3rd best passport coming in behind the UAE and Qatar.

Here are how some other countries ranked compared to Kuwait:

1 – France
4 – United Kingdom
7 – United States / Canada
11 – United Arab Emirates
53 – Qatar
55 – Kuwait
59 – Bahrain
60 – Oman
61 – Saudi Arabia
80 – India
87 – Egypt
95 – Lebanon

If you want to check out the full list, click here.

This is interesting, according to Reuters, Saudi Arabia is preparing to open its first alcohol store in Riyadh which will serve exclusively non-Muslim diplomats. The store will be located in the Diplomatic Quarter, a pretty nice neighborhood I’ve visited before, and where lots embassies and diplomats reside.

Even though this store will only be for diplomats, it’s one step closer to Saudi legalizing alcohol.

I wonder how legalizing alcohol in Saudi would affect Kuwait. Will we get alcohol if they get alcohol? Not that I care honestly, but I wouldn’t mind a Tomatini every now and then.

Update: I found another article with a bit more info..

The store sits next to a supermarket in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a socially sensitive topic in Saudi Arabia. The diplomat walked through the store on Wednesday, describing it as similar to an upscale duty free shop at a major international airport.

The store stocks liquor, wine and only two types of beer for the time being, the diplomat said. Workers at the store asked customers for their diplomatic identifications and for them to place their mobile phones inside of pouches while inside. A mobile phone app allows purchases on an allotment system, the diplomat said.

Back in November I posted about Khalifouh Village which is owned by the popular Kuwaiti actor, Khalifa Khalifouh. Khalifa, who worked on various TV shows involving old Kuwaiti villages, built an old village himself because he wasn’t very happy with the quality of workmanship in the show-built villages they would film in.

Khalifouh village is filled with many buildings that a real village would have like a mosque, a bakery, a tea shop, a theater and a main square.

The village is now going to open to the public starting next weekend. From February 1st, the village will be open on weekends from 10AM to 8PM and entry will be free.

If you’re looking for something fun to do you could turn the visit into a Wafra road trip since there are a bunch of things to do and see there other than the heritage village. Personally, I’d recommend heading to Wafretto for coffee (pictured above) before visiting the village and maybe pass by Mala Garden for pizza on the way back. You’ll also find loads of farms on the way to visit and buy vegetables and fruits from.

For more photos of the village and to stay posted on any updates, follow @khalifouhvillage

IMPORTANT UPDATE
I originally posted that the village was only gonna be open for one day but the English poster turned out to be missing key details compared to the Arabic poster. The village will actually be open every weekend starting February 1st. So NOT for just one day.

Apple launched the pre-orders for the Apple Vision Pro this past Friday and I’m still undecided on it.

I definitely think it has a lot of potential, but at 1,150 KD it’s crazy expensive. I ended up pre-ordering one on Saturday since by then the delivery date had moved back to March which gives me some time to decide. I figured depending on how much money I make from advertising this month, and depending on the reviews that come out, I could decide to get one or just cancel my order.

I’m still trying to figure out what I could use it for. I think it could be a second TV, but I also like the idea of being transported some where else. I don’t know, I’m curious to have one and see where this technology is going to go, but the cheapest Apple Vision Pro which is 256GB comes out to around 1,200 KD shipped to Kuwait. The device itself costs 1,080 KD, but if you ship to MyUS.com there is additional $244 tax on top of it (more if you ship to Shop&Ship). Then calculate around 20KD to ship to Kuwait, you’re looking at close to 1,200KD. Crazy for something that I have no idea what I will use it for.

Did you pre-order one?

SMOKE AND SODA is a new Kuwait based online store that recently launched and is promising to bring something new to the regional fashion scene.

It’s a one-stop-shop with items ranging from electronics and self-care essentials, to clothes and home decor. Everything is curated so you’re only going to find the coolest and most interesting items for sale.

All their pieces are hand picked from places like New York, LA, London, Paris, Sydney and Tokyo, but they also have offerings from within our region. Some of the brands they carry include:

• Billionaire Boys Club
• Converse
• Grown Alchemist
• House of Sunny
• Lottie London
• Modern Home
• Nikben
• Pabe Pabe
• Soxy
• Stojo
• This Works

With all the big franchises selling pretty much the same looking things, SMOKE AND SODA are trying to help you celebrate your individuality with more unique pieces. They’re champions of self-expression and want you to embrace your true self, free from judgment.

SMOKE AND SODA have both an online website and iOS and Android Apps. Check them out by visiting smokeandsoda.com or clicking on the download link in their bio @smokeandsodame

Back in September, I shared a photo of how the new Gulf Road facelift was going to look, and since then, they’ve been really busy working on the transformation.

The 9.7-kilometre-long project involves facelifting the waterfront while also offering essential amenities for people which includes a dedicated bicycle and jogging path among other things.

The project is divided into two phases with the first phase on track to be completed in February while the second phase will be completed in March. Yesterday I passed by to check out the progress, and even though the area is still under construction, it looked great!

The redesign is so tastefully done with beautiful tile work, nice looking benches, and a very minimal and clean design overall. Even the new garbage bins look good.

Runners will also be interested to know that the running track is going to be cushioned.

If you want to check the progress yourself, I’d recommend heading to the pathway next to Green Island. I visited different spots along the water front and the Green Island area was the closest to completion.

If you haven’t seen how the waterfront is going to look like when done, click here.