Aisha Al-Saif, a friend of mine opened up a ceramics design studio last year called From Mud (@frommud) and it recently got featured on ArchDaily. The studio space was designed by Kuwaiti architect Rawan Muqaddas and is located on the first floor of a 1967 Modernist building in Blockat. I was with Aisha when we found the location and I wish I knew where the photos of the space I took were because you wouldn’t recognize it today and would make a great before and after series.
It’s been a year now since the DJI Mini 2 got launched but I just got mine a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been wanting the DJI Mini 2 ever since it was released so a few weeks ago I got in touch with Xcite and asked them if I could get one to review. I’m not a drone expert so this review is directed at other people like me, beginners basically. The Mini 2 shoots in 4K, is pretty tiny, and it’s also really light weighing just 249g. If you want more detailed specs of the Mini 2 there are tons of videos on YouTube that do just that. Instead, I’m going to give you my opinion on why I think this is the best drone a beginner can get right now.
Full disclosure, I have a long-standing relationship with Xcite who provided me with this drone. They’ve been very supportive of the blog from the very early days and they’ve lent or given me a number of items over the years to review, as well as hooking me up with discounts. I’m a huge Xcite fan.
I’m not sure where to start this review since I’m really excited about the drone, and I wasn’t expecting to be. If you’ve never owned a drone before it can be a bit intimidating at first and even if you have had a drone before, maybe a basic one like the original Mini 1 or the Spark, then flying probably still intimidates because of certain limitations like the battery life and connection issues. At least those were the two things that kept me from flying my drone often and both those things no longer are an issue with the Mini 2.
The last drone I had was the DJI Spark which was pretty good but most of the time I’d have connection issues once it got to a certain height, distance or if I was flying in an area like Salmiya which caused a lot of interference. It was freaky because I didn’t want to lose the drone and it made me a lot more cautious whenever I wanted to take it out. The DJI Mini 2 on the other hand uses a different connection technology called OcuSync and I think this is my favorite new feature. I haven’t had a single situation, not even for a second where I had a connection problem. I’ve flown it out far and as high as it can get and haven’t had a signal drop or even a low signal warning. It’s made flying the drone so much more enjoyable and it’s given me much more confidence.
The other feature I’ve been loving on the Mini 2 is the battery life which now lasts up to 30 minutes. That’s a lot of time which is great cuz I always felt so rushed with the Spark which only had around 15 minutes of battery life. Last week I headed out to Sulaibikhat to film the flamingos and I actually spent a lot of time just hovering my drone low near the water just watching them on my screen. It would take around 5 minutes to reach them since I was parked pretty far from their location and another 5 minutes to get back but with that, I still had around 20 minutes left of just pure stalking time. It’s enough time to get completely immersed and zoned out, I literally spent all my time just watching flamingos catch their food and eat as if I had my own private National Geographic channel. Whenever the battery was going to die the drone would just let me know and then start flying back to me. Really easy.
OcuSync and the battery life together have made me want to take out the drone more often and not have to worry about anything which is why I think it’s the perfect beginner’s drone. I can just focus on shooting and not worry about the other things. When the weather was misty this past weekend I just parked next to the Kuwait Towers and casually took the drone out to see if I can capture the towers coming out through the fog. It’s such an easy thing to do now and it’s because I’m no longer worried about flying the drone. After reaching a height taller than the towers I realized the fog was too high and had completely engulfed it, so I decided instead to fly towards the city to see if I could capture Hamra Tower. I didn’t end up getting a good shot but just the fact that I was able to on a whim head into the city with my drone is something I’d never have done with the Spark.
The DJI Mini 2 is really everything I’ve wanted into a drone. Something small, light, have a long battery life, and no connection issues. It’s made me want to fly the drone much more and given me the confidence to do so. If you want to get into drone photography, this has to be the best drone to start off with. I got the DJI Mini 2 “Fly More Combo” pack which comes with three batteries, a charging hub, extra propellers, and even a nice carrying case. The price of the full package is 175KD and you can get one from Xcite.
Yesterday I was stuck in traffic on the First Ring Road due to an accident and I had to watch a fire truck struggle to get through on their way to the accident. Unlike some other highways, the First Ring Road still has an emergency lane on the left side with the rumble strips but people were on the lane preventing the emergency vehicles from getting to the scene of the accident.
I know most of the emergency lanes in Kuwait have been removed but I’m curious to know if hospitals, police and firefighters have voiced their concerns with this decision. They can’t be ok with this can they?
“When the Sheikh Met the King” is a new investigative ebook by Kuwaiti Award-winning journalist Motez Bishara. Not sure if some of you remember but at one point Michael Jackson moved to Bahrain and lived there for some time. It was all really bizarre and I mostly remember photos of Michael Jackson going around Bahrain dressed in an abaya.
The ebook which comes out today digs into:
The fate of the Jackson / Sheikh Abdulla co-written song “I Have This Dream,” recorded at London’s Metropolis Studios for $2.2 million
Jackson’s battle with depression, brought on by his unpayable $270 million personal loan and custody battle with ex-wife Debbie Rowe
A drug-induced near-suicidal incident on a hotel room balcony in Oman
Details of Jackson’s $7 million expenses; the Sheikh provided everything from a flashy recording studio to a Ferrari
Jackson’s contractual break from the sheikh that led to his demise; AEG Live’s buyout resulted in the fatal O2 concert dates
If you want to get the eBook, it’s available for 3 KD on Amazon. Link
I was at the Kuwait Airways terminal a few days ago and I spotted a robot called Airporter that is there to help carry your luggage. I couldn’t use the robot because when I touched the screen to wake it up, the robot had a message on it saying it only worked from 9:30AM to 12:30PM. But I did find a video on Youtube of a similar robot which you can watch in action below.
There were instructions on how to operate the robot which you can see here but simply put, you let the robot scan your boarding pass, put your carry-on bags onto it and press go. The robot then follows you to your gate.
There was only 1 robot that I saw so definitely just there for show and fun.
I hadn’t heard of Duck Park until a few days ago when I stumbled on an old post by @natureinkuwait. It’s a small park located in Shaab that has a small pond and ducks!
The photos on Instagram looked a lot nicer than it was in reality but that mostly has to do with the fact there wasn’t any water in the pond when I passed by. Not sure why there’s no water but there were a few ducks there just playing in the mud. The park overall is pretty nice, small but looks well taken care of and features a climbing rope section for kids along with some swings and toys. There are also birdhouses scattered around including a pretty large one with multiple holes and a rooster that was roaming around freely.
If you want to pass by and check out the park, here is the location on Google Maps.
As part of its ongoing efforts to the safety and well-being of riders working with its platform, talabat Kuwait’s leading food and grocery delivery platform – announced today it will provide life and work injuries insurance to the Delivery’s partners riders to insure riders against work-related incidents and injuries.
Commenting on the announcement, Bader Ibrahim Al-Ghanim, talabat Kuwait’s Managing Director said: “This announcement is in line with our efforts to always prioritize riders safety and well-being when using the talabat platform, and this is what these newly introduced policies will ensure. Additionally, this and similar initiatives will further support local small and medium-sized companies operating in the Delivery sector in Kuwait”.
Al-Ghanim added that ‘talabat always thrives to establish initiatives aiming to improve riders everyday well-being, which means they are always confident when using the talabat app to deliver to customers their favorite meals and groceries’ which in turn means they are always confident about delivering for talabat app users, to deliver them their favorite meals and groceries”.
The attention given to the health and well-being of riders using the talabat app, whether during or outside of working hours, is an integral part of the company’s culture. This has been evident in a number of initiatives including this one which the company has launched in the past.
Various Initiatives:
Since the beginning of the pandemic, talabat has been working on developing and enhancing the overall experience riders have when delivering or using the platform. The company introduced various initiatives in the past that focused on different aspects of the riders every day including their health, well-being, and personal finances. This comes as part of talabat’s belief that riders are the company’s everyday heroes who make it possible to deliver to people around the region their favorite orders anywhere and at any time.
Al-Ghanim concluded his statement by adding ‘Supporting the delivery sector is of great importance and is necessary for everyone in the industry, and we, therefore, encourage others to adopt similar initiatives that do not only support business owners, but also those who are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic, and to positively impact thousands of riders in the industry.’
I got this video as a forward but didn’t post it since there was no way of knowing if it was in Kuwait or not. But, the local news media picked up the story, and turns out it was indeed in Kuwait. A lion escaped from captivity and was found roaming the streets before the owner found it and carried the lion back home. The weirder part is the environmental police attended the scene but didn’t confiscate the animal but instead helped the woman get the lion back into her captivity. I guess the plan to ban wild animals never materialized. Link
Update: There is some good news and bad news. The good news is the lion was actually rescued and is now at the zoo. The bad news is that the lion was found to be blind, deaf, and malnourished. They are currently investigating to see if she was born like this or if something happened to her.
One of the first burger franchises to open in Kuwait was Wimpy back in 1969. So when I was approached by Wimpy’s marketing team to visit their newly relaunched concept I was intrigued. There are so many more burger places today than there ever were back in the 70s and 80s so I was curious as to how the OG burger joint would decide to compete. I ended up passing by yesterday for lunch to try the place out and I left impressed. Wimpy didn’t just get a new logo and some new packaging, instead, the whole concept got rebuilt from the ground up and every single part of it got upgraded.
I ended up ordering their Tripple Wimpy B combo but based on the messages I got from my instagram followers, I should have ordered the old school with egg burger or the chicken pury wrap since these two seem to be their most popular items. The last time I had Wimpy my experience wasn’t so great so I’m glad they fixed things up. The new branding is bright and fun and their new burgers are wayyyyy better than they ever used to be. Wimpy now use beef patties that are made fresh to order and they’re smashed similar to other good burger places. I didn’t have the chicken but they’re also now fresh and hand-breaded. For the buns, they’re using custom potato buns by Kuwait Flour Mills. I was only planning to take photos and have a few bites of the burger since I was on my way to a tasting when I dropped by, but I ended up eating the whole burger because it was that good. Oh, and if you’re a fan of crinkle-cut fries then you’re gonna like the new Wimpy fries.
Wimpy currently has two locations, a branch in Nuzha and one in Shamiya. They’re also planning to open a new location in Jabriya next week right next to the large KFC facing the 4th Ring Road. They offer delivery, car hop, and pickup as well as having a small outdoor seating. If you’re interested in checking out their full menu including their all-day breakfast and newly expanded beverage menu, check them out on instagram @wimpykwt
I left the house yesterday not realizing half of Kuwait was flooded and headed to Shuwaikh to pick up some car-related stuff. Getting into Shuwaikh was a mission since the cops had blocked off a bunch of roads that had flooded. I was in my lifted FJ so wasn’t too concerned about getting stuck in a flood and ended up getting everything I needed without having to deal with the usual heavy traffic. For example, the main Toyota spare parts branch on Canada Dry street was completely empty except for me when usually I would need to take a number and then wait 15 minutes or longer for my turn.
A bunch of videos got circulated yesterday over whatsapp and social media and so I picked out the best ones and compiled them into the video above in case you didn’t get to see them.
If you’ve ever looked at buying a cool used sports car, maybe a Porsche or a Lambo you’ve probably noticed that you’ve struggled to find a lot of options locally. It’s a fairly common problem, someone is looking to buy an old sports car but there aren’t any available for sale. There were always rumors about the cars being sold to Europe, that there were some German guys in Kuwait who pick up used cars for cheap and then export them to Germany where they get sold. It sounded like a myth but a quick look at the Instagram account of AlSarraf Motors, a used car dealer, and you’ll see a lot of his cars do get sold abroad, and mainly to Germany. According to the caption they posted on the picture above, the white Porsche was their 88th Porsche exported. That’s an insane number for one brand, at one used car dealer in a small market like Kuwait.
Last year there was a 2009 Porsche 911 for sale in the blogs classified section for 4,500KD (pictured above), and a few weeks ago I got the following email from the person who bought it:
Hello, I bought your car from Jaap in the Netherlands. I am very happy with it. I have a couple of questions.
1 do you still have the service history and instruction books
2 do you still have 1 key? I received the car with 1 key
Thank you for replying to My message.
So I emailed the guy who originally had the car listed the car for sale and supposedly car sellers in Europe search for cars on popular websites in Kuwait, and then use a local guy to purchase and export the cars where they end up selling it for double or quadruple the amount in Europe. This has caused a problem locally because previously you could buy a used Porsche, Lambo, Ferrari, Maserati, etc.. for a reasonable price, but now because so many are getting exported, it’s causing the prices of the cars to inflate locally due to less being available for sale.
It doesn’t seem like a big deal unless you’re into cars and are looking to pick up an affordable used sports car and realize there aren’t any available. Not sure how this issue can be solved, maybe an export tax? Maybe it isn’t even a problem that needs solving since the cars will most probably have a better life in Europe anyway. It’s an interesting situation.
If you’re not traveling and looking for something to do this holiday, this post could be of interest to you. Compass Adventures and Travels have a bunch of activities taking place over the next couple of weeks from camping to abseiling and all taking place in Kuwait. Here are some of the activities they have planned:
December 30 – Fishing Experience
December 30 – Introduction to Survival Skills Trip (Overnight)
December 31 – Desert Experience
January 1 – Abseiling Trip
January 4 – Hiking Rocky Canyons
January 5 – Hiking to Flamingos
I have no idea how people have coffee late in the evening and still manage to go to sleep let alone in the middle of the night. But, if you’re one of those people who enjoys having coffee at 2AM, Arabica is opening a 24-hour drive-thru starting tomorrow in their new Kuwait City location.
Yesterday the Council of Ministers announced that anyone who doesn’t get their booster shot before 9 months from their second dose will be considered incompletely vaccinated. I’m guessing that your immune app will no longer show as green and you will no longer be allowed into some places.
If you’re eligible for a booster shot please go get one since I don’t want to go back to curfews and lock downs. The process is super easy!
The other day I posted about my amazing post office experience when the tires I had ordered for my car were ready to pick up a day after arriving in Kuwait. My experience was extremely smooth and the process of picking up my tires from the post office took less than 10 minutes. Well, turns out things weren’t as perfect as they seemed.
Over the weekend I went to get the tires installed on my car when I noticed the size label on one of the tires was incorrect. Instead of 17″ tires for the front of my Lotus, I had 20″ ones. I was really upset since it meant I had to spend a few more days lugging around tires in my trunk until I could get a hold of customer support in the UK and figure this mess out. Yesterday, I finally got a hold of them and they told me to just email them photos of the incorrect tires as proof which wasn’t an issue. But while taking photos of the shipping label on the tires I noticed someone else’s name. That’s when it hit me, the UK company didn’t send me the wrong tires, the post office just handed me someone else’s tires.
Luckily because Kuwait is so tiny, I knew the person on the shipping label and I knew he had gone to the post office the day after me to pick up his tires as well. So I just called him up and told him I had his tires and that he hopefully had mine. He had ordered 8 and so didn’t notice 2 of the tires were actually mine. So we swapped tires and it all worked out in the end. But yeah, the post office basically gave me someone else’s package by mistake 🤷🏼
