Search: “kuwait”

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

A whale shark is currently lost and stranded inside one of the lagoons in Khiran. Whale Sharks are slow-moving filter-feeding sharks and feed almost exclusively on plankton and small fishes, and so pose no threat to humans. They’ve been seen a number of times before in Kuwait. Back in 2009 a whale shark got stranded in Marina Crescent and divers managed to free it again. In 2006 though the whale shark didn’t get as lucky when it got stranded in Khiran and ended up dying.

Based on the videos and information circulating, some boats were trying to chase the shark out and ended up running over it and cutting off one of its fins. The EPA had to issue a message to the public to explain that whale sharks are harmless and basically not to attack it.

You can check out videos of the whale shark on the instagram account @kayak4kuwait as well as stay posted on the EPA’s progress by following their account @epa_kw

A couple of years ago a whale shark got stuck inside a lagoon in Abu Dhabi and was freed in a dramatic rescue operation. You can watch that rescue in the video above.

As I mentioned in my road trip to Dubai post, I drove there to get some things installed on my Hilux truck at a place called Arctic Trucks. They’re actually an Icelandic company that build trucks for the arctic but what works for snow also works for sand. While I was at their shop I saw the new Landcruiser above modified with their AT35 kit and it looked hot!

They have kits for all the different Toyotas including the LC200, LC300, the FJ, Prado, and the Hilux. I have the Arctic Truck brochures for the LC200, LC300, and Hilux trucks which include the modifications they make and their prices. If you’re interested in modifying your Toyota then here are the brochures:

Toyota Hilux AT35 Brochure
Toyota Hilux AT37 Brochure
Toyota Lancruiser LC200 AT35 Brochure
Toyota Lancruiser LC300 AT35 Brochure

They also do Nissan Patrols but I don’t have the brochure for that. You can check out more photos on their Instagram page @arctictrucksme

THE ARENA has announced the dates for the Disney on Ice show and they’ve also started selling tickets. Disney on Ice is going to be held in Kuwait from November 8 to November 12 and tickets start at 20KD and go all the way up to 175KD. For more info and to purchase tickets, here is the link to the event page.

The new iPhone 14 and 14 Pro will be available to pre-order on the Apple website in a few days and if you don’t want to wait for it to officially launch in Kuwait, you can pre-order the phone from Apple directly.

There are two things you need, a US forwarding address like Shop&Ship or MyUS, and a US Apple Store account.

US Forwarding Mailbox
This is something you most likely have already, if not you can get an account by visiting myus.com or shopandship.com and signing up for one. When ordering from Apple.com I always prefer to use MyUS due to the fact the mailbox is located in Florida and so all the items you purchase from Apple are tax free. The amount I save on tax I use to pay for shipping. Last year I paid 16KD to ship the phone from my MyUS mailbox to Kuwait using FedEx 1-3 Days Priority. If you don’t mind waiting there are cheaper shipping options available as well.

US Apple Store Account
Unlike what a lot of people think, you don’t need to have a US credit card to order from the Apple.com website. I have an account that uses my Shop&Ship address as my billing address and my NBK credit card for payments, and I have no issues purchasing laptops and phones from the website and shipping them to my MyUS address. I’ve been doing this for years now and just a couple of weeks back ordered the new MacBook Air that way.

Is it cheaper to buy the iPhone from the US? Yeah, it is. Depending on which iPhone you’re thinking of buying it could be a bit cheaper (and not really worth it) or a lot cheaper. Not only that but you could actually make a bit of money buying an iPhone by reselling it in Kuwait for more than what you paid for since demand, in the beginning, will be a lot higher than availability.

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

I ordered an item from Amazon that costs $4.99 and weighs just 0.1lbs. It’s a stupid adapter I needed which I couldn’t find in Kuwait (I found the non-L-shaped version only). Since the item weighs less than 100g and I have a Shop&Ship Flex account where they calculate shipping per 100g increments, this is the lightest weight they charge you for. It also costs under $100 so its exempt from customs.

If you’re curious as to what is the cheapest you can pay for a Shop&Ship package with the new rates, this is it:

A Disney store is opening in Avenues Phase 4. I was aware Alshaya had gotten the Disney brand for the MENA region but supposedly just for shop-in-shops where they would open small Disney stores inside existing stores like Debenhams and Mothercare. But, based on the hoarding, looks like they’ll also be opening a standalone store.

Here is something you didn’t think we needed, a luxury driving school. UDrive is a new driving school that just opened and they currently have two premium learner cars, an MG SUV and a Porsche Macan.

The Porsche is what caught my attention since I’ve never seen a Porsche learners car with two steering wheels. I didn’t even know they made them or would be willing to make them.

Currently, UDrive offers two courses, the first one is Introduction to Driving 101 and is intended for brand new students who’ve never driven before. It’s a 12-credit course and the cost is 379KD and will use the MG SUV.

The second course they have is called Advanced Driving 102. This is also a 12-credit course but costs 679KD and uses the Porsche as the learner’s car.

Both courses provide you with all the necessary education and training needed to get a driver’s license in Kuwait. If you’re looking for a “premium” learning school, their Instagram account is @UDriveKW and their website is udrivekw.com

Has anyone ordered from Amazon directly to Kuwait and had the item shipped with Aramex? The last few items I ordered were shipped with Aramex and I noticed an odd pattern once the package arrived to Kuwait.

Once the package arrives to Kuwait I start getting “errors”. For example, Amazon would first email me the following:

Unfortunately, ARAMEX wasn’t able to complete your delivery and needs additional information to try again. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.

and then a day later:

Unfortunately, a problem occurred during shipping and we had to cancel your delivery. The package is being returned, and we will issue a refund within 3 – 5 business days after the return is processed. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience.

The first time that happened to me I freaked out and of course, there is no way to contact Aramex. Their call center number won’t allow you to talk to a real person and so you have to send them an email. When you do email them you’ll get a generic response asking you to resend your complete address so they can deliver your package.

I learned that if you ignore all the errors both Amazon and Aramex spit out, or the email request for your address, Aramex eventually delivers your package a few days later.

I didn’t think of it much until my friend complained to me about the same issue. So, I have a theory to why this is happening.

Amazon probably has expectations from Aramex on delivery time. Because Aramex can’t meet it, they put the blame on the customer by saying the address isn’t complete. That way they no longer are the reason for the delayed delivery, the customer is. It’s bad business practice.

So I’m curious as to how often this happens, it’s happened with my last 3 deliveries, has it happened to you? Just to be clear this isn’t using Shop&Ship, this is Amazon straight to Kuwait via Aramex.

While prepping for my previous post on Pinot, I was going through some old emails and found one where he sent me photos of the old Al-Manara Bookshop that was located in Salmiya next to The Video Club.

Al-Manara was a fairly popular bookstore but there aren’t any photos of it available online. It’s one of those places you never thought about photographing and eventually it’s gone. The photos were taken on March 28, 2008 with a Nikon Coolpix P1.

via Pinot

Pinot is a digital artist that was living in Kuwait up till 2014 and is incredibly talented in pixel art and animation using vintage computers. He gained worldwide fame through the service Vine which back before Twitter acquired it, used to allow users to share six-second-long looping video clips. Eventually a digital agency in New York found out about him and offered him a job so he packed up and left Kuwait with his family to work and live there. Since then he’s gotten even more popular with nearly 400K followers on Instagram and even ended up on an MKBHD episode where he showed Marques how to paint on an old Mac.

His Childish Gambino video that went viral

Sadly back in June he suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. Since then he’s been gradually progressing ever so slowly and eventually was taken off life support since he started breathing by himself. He also started making hand gestures and moving one of his arms and legs and is still slowly improving.

Art for Pinot is an initiative from the Indonesian NFT community to help him by inviting fellow creators to donate their artwork as a form of support. If you’re an artist reading this you can help by donating an artwork. For more information visit bit.ly/ArtforPino

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pinot (@pinot)

If you’re not an artist but still want to help, there is a GoFundMe page.

If you’re just curious and want to check out some of Pinot’s work, his Instagram is @pinot and his twitter (which he posts animations in progress) is also @pinot

If you want to stay updated on his progress, his wife is sharing updates on her Instagram @ditut

If you’re a Disney fan then you’ll probably be excited to know that two different Disney shows are coming to Kuwait soon. ‘Disney on Ice‘ is coming to THE ARENA, while ‘Disney Princess – The Concert‘ is coming to JACC.

Not sure how the “ice” part of Disney on Ice is gonna work inside THE ARENA, maybe using fake ice? They also haven’t announced a date although they are on tour in Saudi in September so they’ll most likely come to Kuwait after that. Dates for the Disney Princess show on the other hand have been announced and it will be taking place in October.