Search: “kuwait”

After Khyber the other day I decided to check out the Romco store in the same building since I was there anyway. There aren’t many cassette stores left in Kuwait so whenever I find one still open I like to document it. Romco goes way back, they were a music label with their own cassette factory, and I think they were also the local distributor for the Saudi music label Megastar.

They no longer produce tapes but they still have a small store in their office where they sell cassettes including a small selection of English ones. They’re selling the cassettes for 1.5KD each. Randomly, they also have a tiny section with Hindi VHS tapes if you’re interested.

It’s also worth checking out their Instagram account @romco_kw since they have a few old photos taken during their golden era. If you want to pass by their store, it’s in Hawalli across the street from Al Muhalab. Here is the location on Google Maps.

Just a reminder, Pret A Manger opens today so expect to see lots of people Instagramming their Pret coffee cups this morning.

This isn’t really “new” news but Khyber, one of the oldest Indian restaurants and the best chicken tikka restaurant in Kuwait closed down their Kuwait City location earlier this year and moved to Hawalli. I hadn’t gone back since covid so was surprised when I got to their city location to find a sign saying they moved.

The new location isn’t really as cozy or charming looking as their old city location, but the food is still the same and their spicy tikka still is the best.

If you’ve never had their chicken tikka you should definitely try them out. As an added bonus their new location is right next door to the kunafa place Nafeeseh so you can also pass by afterwards for dessert. Khyber is open from 11AM to 11PM and here is their location on Google Maps.

Aquapark which was the first water park in Kuwait got demolished a couple of years ago and just reopened again but with a new name, Bay Zero. I never went to the original Aquapark so I have no attachment to the old name or place but I do prefer the name Aquapark that’s for sure. The new park has been rebuilt from the ground up and is still the largest water park in Kuwait.

They’re open daily from 10AM to 10PM and the ticket price is 6KD (free for children under 4 years). Ladies’ day is currently still not available but will be available soon. Bay Zero is located right next to the Kuwait Towers, here is the link to Google Maps and they’re on Instagram @BayZeroKuwait

It’s been a while since I last complained about a business, but this experience was too much not to share. A few weeks ago I ordered a new MacBook Air from Apple.com. I sent the MacBook to MyUS forwarding mailbox and then selected the cheapest shipping option to Kuwait because I wasn’t in a rush to get it and I’m cheap like that. MyUS ended up shipping it with a courier I hadn’t heard of before, SMSA Express. I was like fine, whatever, I wasn’t in a rush anyway.

The package took around 10 days to arrive in Kuwait, similar to how long Aramex would take so it wasn’t too bad. But that’s when I ran into a problem. The package went out for delivery last Saturday, I didn’t get a call, and there was no attempted delivery. If you check the tracking via their website, it shows that it’s out for delivery, if you use their WhatsApp service to check the tracking, it says that the receiver requested a new delivery date. So I started calling customer support:

Sunday: I called customer support who told me they’d have someone call me back regarding delivery. Nobody did.

Monday: I call customer support again and they tell me their tracking system hadn’t been updated since September 25 and that my package was showing still in Bahrain. I tried to have them explain to me how my tracking data was more current than theirs and they couldn’t.

Tuesday: I called customer support again, they don’t have a local office so I have to keep calling their Saudi number btw (thank you Skype). They tell me my package will be delivered today or tomorrow.

Wednesday: I called customer support, and they told me my package will be delivered today.

Thursday: This time when I called customer support I made a big fuss about how my package has been out for delivery for one week and they keep promising me delivery every day and how no one ever calls me. I get transferred to a manager who promises he will make sure my package will get delivered today before 3 PM.

Less than an hour later while on my way to Shuwaikh, I get a message from their driver asking me for a location. I call him up and ask him if he prefers to deliver in Kuwait City which is the original address listed, or Shuwaikh since I’ll be there. He tells me he’s delivering to Wafra 🤦🏼‍♂️. My office is in a building called Wafra Downtown Tower, so the dispatcher had read te first word, ignoring the rest of the address and decided that my package should be delivered to the area Wafra. I explain to the driver that the name of the building was Wafra, but the address was Kuwait City, he told me the office told him to deliver to Wafra and that’s where his deliveries are. So I ask him if I could come to him, he said I could and that he was in Farwaniya, so I got his location and headed there.

I get to the driver less than 15 minutes later and find out that SMSA Express use a local courier called OCS Express for their Kuwait deliveries. I finally get my package from the driver but he then asks for a payment of KD23.900 for customs. I was like it’s a laptop, there is no customs on laptops in Kuwait. So I ask the driver for an invoice and he says he doesn’t have one. Told him there was no way I was going to pay without at least an invoice. So he calls up his office and I talk to a lady and explain to her the situation. She says she will send me an invoice later, I told her I needed it first before paying, it’s a normal request. She told me it would take around 5-10mins, I was like fine I’ll wait and hung up. A few minutes later driver comes up to my window and hands me the phone. It’s the lady again, supposedly the accountant isn’t there and the driver needs to go make his rounds. I told her I’d been chasing this package for a week and I even drove all the way to Farwaniya to pick it up, I’m not leaving without the package. I hand the phone back to the driver and he goes back to his car. A few minutes later he comes to me and shows me a WhatsApp he got of a photo of the invoice. It said 23.900KD so I ask him to send me the photo and I hand him the amount cash to get my package.

After he left, I look at the invoice carefully and they charged me 20.400KD for customs. So I call the company up and talk to the lady I had spoken to earlier and explain to her that laptops don’t have customs charges so how was I being charged customs? She transfers me to another person who I assume is an accountant or manager. The guy tells me the item costs 408KD which is why there is customs on it. I told him the value doesn’t matter since it’s a laptop, and there are no customs on laptops. He says the description says there were notebooks in the box as well. I was like wtf, they’ve written notebook cuz it’s a notebook computer and if he doesn’t, believe me, I still hadn’t opened the box and he can check! I then proceed to tell him it was illegal that they were charging customs on a laptop when the government doesn’t charge customs and that I was going to report them for this. He then told me they would refund me the customs charge of 20.400KD but not the remaining charges. I told him fine and I sent them a payment link and got my refund.

So much drama for such a simple thing as a delivery. The fact that I was being charged customs when I shouldn’t have been is also super dodgy. If you ever use MyUS make sure you don’t select the cheapest delivery so you don’t end up getting your items shipped with SMSA and OCS!

Last November, I broke the news that Pret A Manger was coming to Kuwait and now a year later, they’re finally opening up their first store. Pret will be officially opening next Monday, October 17 in Al Hamra Tower. To stay posted on their news, you can follow their Instagram account @pretkw.official

via @inspirededibles

The padel obsession has gotten so out of hand that courts are starting to pop up inside malls. Symphony Mall in Salmiya now has a padel court inside and oddly, I don’t think that’s even the weirdest place a padel court has popped up in Kuwait. I think the weirdest is the one located inside a car paint protection center and then there is another one located inside a car garage. I don’t think padel is even a thing anymore, is it?

Since we’ve been on the subject of food delivery apps this past few days, here is another interesting tidbit.

There is a new delivery app that will be entering the market soon and it will be called CARI. The delivery platform is by the previous owners of Carriage who had signed a 5 years non-compete agreement with Delivery Hero when they were acquired back in 2017. Since the 5 years are now up, the previous owners are entering the market again.

What will they bring to the table?

When Carriage initially launched one of the few things that made it different than Talabat was the quality of restaurants over quantity. They had a much smaller list of restaurants available but they were all good restaurants, a curated list. CARI is bringing that back, they have only been approaching companies that have good brands and asking them to join the platform.

Another differentiating factor is that they will guarantee 30 minutes delivery. This is going to be big since you’re more likely to order from CARI if your favorite restaurant on it will deliver to you quicker than other apps. Restaurants that are currently being invited to join the platform will only be accepted if they can guarantee food can be prepared within a specific time (I think 6 minutes). If they can’t, then they won’t be allowed to join the platform. Another way of making sure the food will get to you in 30 minutes is by reducing the delivery zone. Currently, most delivery platforms allow restaurants to deliver within a 10km radius, CARI is going to deliver within a 5km radius. This means the riders don’t have to travel a long distance to deliver the food to you. On the downside it also means you might no longer be in the delivery zone of your favorite restaurant.

Not actual logo

Finally, they’re also doing something different with the restaurants. Most delivery platforms right now charge restaurants a 25-35% fee off every order as well as 1KD from the customer to deliver the food. CARI is taking a different approach. To entice restaurants to join their platform, CARI is charging restaurants 0% commission for the first couple of years. Instead, restaurants will have to pay a one-time fee of **KD (I can’t disclose the exact amount) for every new customer that orders from their restaurant. So say I order from McDonald’s for the first time, McDonald’s would pay CARI 5KD (for example) as a new customer fee. And that’s it, no other fees. It’s kinda genius, CARI gets this big cash influx up front, and restaurants pay it with the hopes that the same customer will order again from them. Most restaurants will need the same customer to order from them maybe 8 or 10 times to cover the initial acquisition fee but after that, all the money goes into their pocket. If the customer doesn’t like the food and doesn’t order from the restaurant again or doesn’t order enough times over the next few years while this 0% commission is in effect, then that’s a loss for the restaurant.

When I first heard about this fee structure I was in awe. Usually, the platform would pay to acquire new customers but in this case they’ve not only managed to make it so that restaurants would pay the acquisition cost, but that fee is going to be a major cash boost at launch which should help CARI fast track their way into profitability. I love it.

With Carriage, Talabat, Deliveroo already owning the majority of the market share, the Saudi app Jahez entering the market, and now CARI also coming in, I think things are going to get really exciting.

Update: Their Instagram account is up and they’ve revealed the logo @get.cari

Last night Over Jar, the local chocolate concept launched a new branding and interior look for their stores. The new look feels a lot more modern and futuristic, unlike their older look which felt a bit more rustic. I hadn’t tried them before last night and although chocolate and crolls are their thing, I think they might have the best banana bread in Kuwait.

The first location to get the new facelift is their 360 Mall branch, so if you want to check it out that’s where you should head to. They’re in the old 360 Mall, right next to Asha’s. @overjar

Speculative Horizons is a new collaboration between Kuwait and Australia that will feature contemporary Australian and Kuwaiti photography. The collaboration will be launched in 2023 with an exhibition and symposium focusing on still and moving imagery in Kuwait City. The symposium will provide an opportunity for Kuwait-based image-makers to showcase their work and the opportunity to have their imagery curated by renowned Australian curators and connect with international artists.

The inaugural event will explore ideas associated with ‘Land’ and ‘People’ and the interconnectedness between space/place and inhabitation/culture.

Theme: ‘Land’ and ‘People’

Submit: 12 photographs at screen size (1200 pixels on longest length at 150 dpi)

Deadline: 20th October 2022

Submit to: [email protected] via GoogleDrive

Successful applicants will be notified on the 1st of November 2022 and have their work exhibited at CAP in the month of February 2023. For more details or to sign up, visit speculativehorizons.com

If you’re a bubble tea fan, a Redditor posted a list of popular boba places in Kuwait. I’m not a fan of bubble tea but ironically like half the places on her list are located on my street in Salmiya.

Check out her list by clicking here.

LPM

Since getting a visa to Saudi is so easy now I figured I’d share a list of some popular fine dining restaurants in Riyadh. Fine dining isn’t something we have a lot of in Kuwait so turning a trip to Riyadh into a dining experience is really easy.

AOK Kitchen

When I’m driving to Riyadh I tend to get there around lunch and Cipriani is usually my first stop. I actually think about lunch during the drive since it’s like a reward at the end of the long journey. Anyway, check out the list below of some of the popular fine dining spots in Riyadh:

Beefbar

Amazonico
AOK Kitchen
Beefbar
Billionaire
Cipriani
Coya
LPM
Myazu
Nobu
Nusret
Zuma

If there is anything else you think should be on the list let me know:

VOX has launched a special experience for children with sensory challenges. On the first Saturday of every month, VOX will now have a special showing for children with sensory disorders such as autism:

While the typical cinema environment can be stressful for guests with sensory sensitivities, our Sensory Friendly Screenings provide a safe and comfortable environment, including keeping the house lights on (dimmed) throughout the film, lowering the audio volume, removing the advertisements and trailers before the film, and ensuring a reduced number of guests in the auditorium.

The movie screenings will have increased auditorium lighting, a lower volume, and a smaller crowd. For more information, click here.

Since the British Pound is so low right now I figured I’d post a reminder about the fact that you can order stuff from Amazon UK to Kuwait directly.

Why should you order from Amazon UK?

• As of this post, 1KD = £3
• When you ship stuff to Kuwait directly, the 20% VAT is removed reducing the price considerably
• Even after shipping and local customs, the price pretty much evens out to the UK listed price

This works best with expensive items since the more expensive the item, the more money you save with the VAT removed. The money saved with the VAT you then put towards the shipping cost. This obviously doesn’t work on everything but its worth giving a shot.

I was picking up breakfast from Mcdonald’s next to the Kuwait Towers when I spotted this large military-like truck parked across from Mcdonald’s. I knew it wasn’t military because it had German plates on it and the words tourist printed in large near the front along with a German flag, I snapped a few photos and then later once back home decided to google it.

Turns out the truck is a MAN KAT 8×8 and is being driven around the world by a German lady called Petra. She started her journey on June 2020 and is currently in Kuwait having come from Iran.

I found a video on YouTube where she gives a tour of her truck and you can check that out below although it’s in German (inside tour starts at 19:30).

If you want to follow Petra on her journey or want to check out photos from her previous trips, her Instagram is @katweltreise