Search: “kuwait”

Nat Geo will be premiering a 20-minute film on the Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre tonight called “Kuwait Culture”. Here is the synopsis:

The 20-minute film entitled “Kuwait Culture” explores the various aspects and features of the colossal project, envisioned as a beacon of art, creative and scientific thinking in Kuwait. Spread over an 18-hectare site, it encompasses 6 museums including the museum of Natural History, Science & Technology, Fine Arts & Theatre, Museum of Islamic History and the Space Museum, all tied together by a central street, a covered thoroughfare forming ASCC’s spine shaped like human DNA. The new National Geographic Abu Dhabi film gives audiences a rare glimpse into the massive and complex task of building the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre, which started in 2016, and involved over 3,000 suppliers from different companies working together to deliver the mammoth project on time.

I don’t have Nat Geo so hopefully they’ll publish the film online after it airs. If you do have Nat Geo, the film premiers tonight at 7PM (Kuwait time):

Premier: Monday 21 September 2020 at 7:00PM
Repeat: Tuesday 22 September 2020 at 8:00AM
Repeat: Tuesday 22 September 2020 at 2:00PM

Here is the link to the documentary on the Nat Geo website.

I previously posted about Wara Hospital since I used their drive-thru PCR test service but last week they introduced an even more convenient option, a home service. Like with their drive-thru, you’re going to have to pay a premium for the convenience of having them come over to your house to give you a swab test. The price? KD55.

I’d rather do the cheaper drive-thru but if you don’t have a car or for some reason can’t leave the house (maybe you’re under quarantine), this could be an option. Link

Back in June, I posted about how I was able to order a new espresso machine straight from Italy without having to pay crazy shipping prices. I briefly mention what I ended up buying but since I still hadn’t had the machine for that long, I decided I’d leave the proper review for another time and since it’s now been a few months here is what I think of my setup.

Firstly my coffee machine set up is composed of the following three main parts:
Rocket Appartamento
Rocket Faustino Grinder
Acaia Lunar Scale

These three items along with my leveling tool (instead of a coffee tamper) have proven to be a dream team for me. One of the hardest things to get right is consistent coffee on a daily basis. There are too many factors in play and if just one of the steps changes slightly you end up with a different tasting coffee. This is why people generally have a favorite barista at their favorite coffee place, people want their coffee done the same way every morning. My setup is allowing me to get the same result every time and so I’m loving it.

My previous espresso machine was the Breville Oracle which had basically a fully automated process to make my latte. My Rocket setup is fully manual so I have the following steps I need to take:

• I first fill up my milk jug with milk and place it next to my machine
• I remove the portafilter from the coffee machine
• I place portafilter on my scale and zero it
• I then grind 18g of coffee into the portafilter. My grinder has a timer and I’ve set it to grind for 12.7 seconds which generally grinds around 18g of coffee
• I then place portafilter back on my scale to see if I hit 18g. I’m fine with 18-18.3g of coffee, if its a bit more I remove some, if it’s less I add more
• Using my leveling tool I press it hard on my portafilter and rotate it 8 times
• I then purge the steamer to let out condensation while also purging the group head to stabilize the water temperature
• I mount the portafilter back in the machine, I place my scale under the portafilter and place my coffee cup on it and zero the scale
• I then take my milk jug and start steaming my milk, once the milk gets warm I start the coffee-making process
• My scale can sense when coffee drips into the cup, it then automatically starts a timer while weighing my coffee.
• In the middle of this process, my milk hits the correct temperature (I can now feel it with my hands but I started off using a thermometer) so I turn off the steamer, clean the wand and purge it to clear any milk that might have gotten inside
• I then get back to focusing on my coffee. Once I get 36 grams of coffee in my cup I stop the machine. I try to get 36g of coffee in around 20-24 seconds
• I then take my milk and pour it into my coffee cup attempting latte art which I’m consistently terrible in and then I’m done

It’s a lot of steps but it’s become second nature and I timed the process and from start to finish and it takes just 2 minutes. 2 minutes to make a great latte, that’s really not bad at all. Most importantly is how good my coffee is and it’s always the same. I’m making such good coffee now I’ve stopped having coffee completely outside my house. When I had the Oracle I had consistency issues all the time and used to still have coffee at %Arabica on weekends because their coffee just tasted better than mine at home. But now I’m basically making the same quality at home with my set up so I haven’t had a single coffee outside since I got the machine. Not exaggerating either, not one single coffee outside my home since I got the machine back in May or June (whenever I got my machine). No more inconsistent coffees because of different baristas, no more complaining about the temperature of the milk because they’ve either boiled it too hot or not heated it enough. I have the exact same coffee every single time.

My coffee experience has improved tremendously because of my setup and I’m using the Appartamento model which is the entry-level Rocket machine. There are a lot more sophisticated models with more capabilities, but for my needs, the Appartamento has been more than enough and great value. The only negatives I really have are the following:

• I wish the drip tray was bigger in the Appartamento
• I wish the Appartamento could hold more water
• The Faustino grinder touch screen is great unless your fingers are damp and then it doesn’t work

Honestly, these three issues are very minor and aren’t really issues. So yeah, obviously I would highly recommend my setup especially if you want to make great espresso at home but don’t want to invest crazy money. My setup including accessories which I didn’t list above cost me around KD700 shipped to Kuwait. Sounds a lot but keep in mind it costs me around 500fils to make a latte at home using my favorite beans from %Arabica (Arabica Blend) and with lacto free milk (which is more expensive than normal milk). A regular latte at a coffee shop costs around KD1.750 with regular milk. I have three lattes a day so that’s a saving of 3.750KD a day or 112.500KD a month. So in just seven months of use, I’ll recoup the cost of my setup and you could recoup it even faster by using cheaper beans and milk. So you’re paying this much money upfront, but saving so much more in the long run.

So if you want to now buy a coffee machine online, check out my previous post here.

Kuwait’s landmark ice skating rink was designed by the French architect Dominique Beau in the 70s and was considered to be the first of its kind in the Middle East when it was inaugurated in 1980. Domonique also designed the pattern of the terracotta tiles that adorned the inside and outside walls of the rink. It was custom made in France but inspired by the local Sadu weavings which he encountered during his trips to the Gulf region.

Sadly the ice skating rink was demolished earlier this year to make way for a newer one as part of Al Shaheed Park expansion plans. I couldn’t find much more information on the construction of the original ice skating rink or the architect online other than what I’ve posted here, but I’ll keep looking. For now, check out the photos of the construction in the post below.

I know this is a totally random thing to review but this little device is just amazing. For the past couple of months I’ve been looking online for a portable pressure washer. I wanted to be able to wash my Alfa whenever I needed to as well as random stuff like my apartment AC compressors, or my BBQ grill, just random things that don’t have water access nearby. Anyway, I didn’t really find anything interesting and basically gave up until I spotted the Kärcher OC 3 at Ace hardware. I had actually checked out Kärcher pressure washers during my research but for some weird reason never came across the OC 3 which is exactly what I was hoping to find.

The OC 3 is a compact pressure washer with a built-in rechargeable battery and a 4L water tank which makes it extremely portable and practical. So far I’ve been using it to wash my bike after rides but this would also be great to take to the beach for example so you can wash your feet from sand when done or to spray down your wakeboard gear from seawater before shoving them into the back of your car.

There is one major negative with the OC 3 which could be a deal-breaker depending on what you’re planning to use it for. The OC 3 can hold 4L of water which is around 2 minutes of continuous spraying. 4L is more than enough for washing my bike but if I want to wash my car it means I need to find a tap nearby to refill the unit or I need to bring a larger water source with me (like a bucket) and use the included suction hose attachment. I originally thought the 15-minute battery life would be an issue but didn’t realize I would run out of water first.

Other than the water capacity limitation I love this thing. Ace carries the unit with the adventure pack which is an addon storage unit that clips to the bottom of the OC 3. The adventure pack includes a brush attachment that you can use to wash mud and dirt off a bike for example and it also contains the suction hose so you could use an external water supply. The cost of the OC 3 is KD43.750 and Ace only had a couple on display so not sure if they have more in stock. I couldn’t find it anywhere else in Kuwait so if you want one you should probably try to pass by ASAP to see if they still have them.

Update: Looks like I lucked out on the price because according to the local Karcher dealer, the price I paid was for a different unit (the K2). Ace mispriced the OC 3 and the actual cost of the machine is around KD68 not KD43.

Enviroserve is a local recycling facility that is trying to solve the e-waste problem in Kuwait. E-waste or electronic waste is basically discarded electrical appliances and devices which the majority of people generally throw out with regular garbage. Some examples of e-waste are laptops, computers, tablets, phones, refrigerators, IT equipment, lighting, and air conditioners. Enviroserve takes your e-waste and recycles them for you in an eco-friendly manner.

There are two ways you can dispose of your e-waste:

Drop off: Enviroserve have a bin at the Scientific Center (inside next to Starbucks) that can be used to drop off small appliances and devices

Pick up: They can pick up your e-waste but they charge a fee. If your e-waste fits in a small car the cost is KD5, if your e-waste requires a large car the cost is KD10.

If you’re a company and are getting rid of your old computers, they also have a data protection service where they secure the picked up hardware until all the hard drives are destroyed along with any confidential information that might have still been on the drives.

If you want to find out more about Enviroserve or if you want to request a collection, here is the link to their website.

Back in 2011 KDD dropped the old school names and packaging for some of their ice creams and replaced them with the generic Blitz name and packaging. But, it looks like KDD is bringing back the original names and designs again. The KDD app is now showing Failaka, Burgan and Columbia again as well as some other new items like lolly sticks.

I don’t know if this a temporary marketing thing or not but I hope it stays. I also hope they’re not gonna kill off the lolly pyramids and replace them with these new sticks. Also KDD, why did you close down the KDD store near my place in Salmiya??

via @inspirededibles

If you missed my Part 1 post on my home gym build, you can check that post here. For the second part, I wanted to talk about some of the equipment I got, where I got it from, and what options you have for getting the same as well. The pandemic started this home gym craze which has left the market bare of decent gym equipment, and when you do find any available, they tend to be overpriced. The quality of some of the equipment being sold is also questionable with lots of clones and overpriced poor quality hardware being imported by people who are looking to make a quick buck.

For my gym needs all I really needed was weight plates, an Olympic bar, a curl bar, and dumbbells. I managed to get everything except for dumbbells. Not sure what pre-corona prices were for dumbbells, but right now they seem incredibly expensive, at least to me. I can’t just get one set of dumbbells either, I’d have to get a whole range since depending on the exercise I might need anything from 10KG up to 36KG. So for now, I’ve put the thought of getting dumbbells aside unless I want to spend over 700KD which I’m not gonna do.

Weight plates aren’t that difficult to find, but finding a whole set of weights is. I was originally planning to get my plates from ProSports, but they had certain weights out of stock when I first checked which meant for example I could get 20KG plates but couldn’t find maybe 5KG or 10KG. I then decided to get bumper plates from Nomad, but they were out of stock. Gym Doctor? Also out of stock. Nobody had a full set of weight plates and I didn’t want to mix and match different brands or looks since my OCD wouldn’t be able to deal with it. I also needed them to be in KG not Lbs since I’ve only ever used KGs at my gym and didn’t want to change that. At one point I found all the weights I needed on the ProSports website but they were out of stock on the 7ft Olympic bar. I decided to wait until they got the bar in stock, but by then some of the weights were out of stock. Waiting until everything you want is available to order isn’t gonna work.

Eventually, while going through my Instagram explore page I noticed Sports World were selling a Torque brand package that included a full set of colored bumper plates (5KG, 10KG, 15KG, 20KG), a 7ft black Olympic bar and 2 collars all for 392KD. They also had a Torque adjustable bench for 220KD. I also bought extra 2.5KG plates from them. It was around 10PM at night, maybe later and the owner quick responded to my questions on Instagram and I managed to place the order and pay for my items all through Instagram DM. It was an impulse buy but it had to be if I wanted to make sure I got what I wanted before they sold out. The prices might sound expensive, but they’re actually acceptable for what you’re getting. For example, the bumper plate package retail cost is around KD340 in the US (pre-corona) so we’re only paying a slight premium here. What I’ve actually noticed is that the no-brand Chinese stuff is being sold for a pretty high price while the premium brands which have proper dealers in Kuwait kept their prices fairly stable.

So the difference in price between the no-brand clones and premium brand items has narrowed to the point you might as well pay a bit more and just get the premium brands. This price discrepancy is more obvious with things like the adjustable bench. At 220KD I think the bench I got is a steal compared to other benches in the market that cost 150-200KD. The Torque bench is commercial grade and pretty much bombproof and so is gonna withstand all the abuse I give it. But I’ve seen no-brand benches sold for just slightly less that look like they’re gonna start wobbling a week into use. The only thing left that I needed to get was a curl bar and Sports World didn’t have any in stock. I saw one on the Wawan website but they were selling it for 50KD which sounded overpriced. I eventually found one for sale on an Instagram account called @gym__home123 (can it get any more generic?) for 30KD and the guy delivered it the same day so not bad.

I really love the stuff I got, the colorful bumper plates look great and so does the black zinc coated Olympic bar. Since these items were going to be mine and used by me hopefully for a very long time, I wanted to get a proper set of gym equipment and so I’m glad I found these by Torque. I also ended up getting a squat rack to use with all the above but I’m leaving that for the final third post since there is a lot to talk about with that. For now I’ll leave you with a bunch of links below to where you could try and find stuff you need for your own home gym:

Sports World
ProSports
Nomad Strength Co.
Beyond Equipment
Gym Doctor
Perform Athletics
Sports Group
Wawan
@gym__home123

Update: Thanks to a reader ended up finding dumbbells that were priced extremely well, a set from 10KG up to 25KG in 2.5KG increments for just 225KD! Got them from @gymequipmentskwt

Around 7 or 8 years ago I learned how to kiteboard and I’m pretty sure I posted about it but can’t seem to find my old post. In any case, the person I learned with left Kuwait ages ago and so I wanted to post about another place you could learn to kiteboard. Q8 Kite Boarding is a local website that sells kiteboarding gear while also offering lessons. They carry a bunch of brands including Cabrinha, Core, Crazyfly, and Reedin.

Full Program Zero 2 Hero
12 lessons
Lesson duration is 60-75 minutes
Cost: KD280 (KD480 if you don’t have the gear)

Individual lessons are KD25 (45KD if you don’t have the gear)

Since the weather has cooled down, it’s probably a great time to learn to kiteboard. Kiteboarding is also an individual sport so social distancing should be fairly easy. For contact information, visit their website Q8kiteboarding.com

Update: Their Instagram account is @Q8Kiteboarding. Also found out that they were previously called DMBoarding which is the company I learned with. They just renamed now to Q8 Kite Boarding.

Ghazi Al-Mulaifi is a Kuwaiti musician whose brother is Tareq Al-Mulaifi of Cobra Club whom I’ve posted about a few times. Both brothers are super talented and have completely different music styles (like opposites) which is amazing to see. While Tareq is into 80s inspired cinematic synth-pop music, Ghazi on the other hand is interested in Kuwaiti pearl diving music and global jazz. He formed the ensemble Boom Diwan where he and traditional Kuwaiti musicians combine Kuwaiti bahri (sea) music with global jazz for the purpose of creating new Kuwaiti music that revives a musical tradition of dialog and exchange. It’s a bizarre combination but going through their Instagram account it actually seems to work really well.

In the fall of 2018, Ghazi was approached by Bill Bragin who is the executive artistic director at the Arts Center at NYUAD. He was inquiring about six-time grammy award winner Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (Arturo is the son of the late and famed Chico O’Farill). Arturo was looking for musical ties between Afro-Cuba and the Afro-Khaleej and he and Bill visited Kuwait and stayed with Ghazi for a few days. Ghazi invited the members of his ensemble over and that meeting resulted in two Cuban-Khaleeji Project concerts, the first took place in 2019 (video above) while the second took place virtually a few days ago (video below).

It’s all pretty fascinating and I love the fact they’re looking for ways to keep the traditional Kuwaiti pearl diving music alive. If you want to listen to more of Ghazi’s music or if you’re just curious to explore all this further, here are some links:

GhaziMusic.com
KhaleejiMusicAlliance.com
@Boom.Diwan
NYU Abu Dhabi introduces new course on Khaleeji music

A user on Reddit a few days was asking about a local vintage clothing store which in places like the States and Europe is generally a store that sells second-hand clothing. Although I’m not aware of any vintage clothing store in that sense we do have a couple of thrift shops that sell second-hand clothes:

Odettes Closette – They’re located inside 8 Mall in Salmiya.

Thrifty M.E. – An Instagram only based account.

Both places also accept donated clothes and accessories but if you prefer your stuff to go to a better cause, below is a charitable organization which also accepts your second-hand clothes:

Basta – 80-90% of the items donated to them go to low-income community members. The rest of the items get sold with the money going towards funding student tuitions. Other than clothes you can also donate toys, books, and gadgets.

If you know of any other thrift shops let me know in the comments below.

Back in May I posted a review of my Eufy RoboVac which performed beyond my expectations. Because my experience with the RoboVac was so great I decided to also get a RoboMop. I ended up ordering the iRobot Braava Jet 240 off of Amazon which is iRobots most affordable RoboMop.

In case you didn’t get it from the name, the RoboMop is like the robot vacuum except it mops the floor with water. I have tiles covering my lower floor and hardwood on my top floor and although the RoboVac does a great job of removing the dust, it doesn’t clean up smudges or stains. I mostly have an issue in my kitchen where I have black tiles and so when after washing dishes or cooking, I end up with water stains/smudges on the floor from where I dripped water. The RoboMop I ended up getting is slightly smarter as well as dumber than my RoboVac. My RoboVac for example cleans a room by moving around randomly while the RoboMop I got moves around the room in a smarter, much more organized up and down motion. But while my RoboVac can connect to Wifi and be set to start at certain hours, the RoboMop doesn’t connect online and requires you to manually start it.

I’ve only tried the RoboMop in small areas and it’s performed pretty well. You fill up the RoboMop with water (no soap) and then place it where you want and press the clean button. I got some sprayable floor cleaner and I just spray a bit of it in the area I want to be cleaned and I let the RoboMop do its thing. Because I have black tiles its easy to see water streaks and I was getting that at one point but I solved it by reducing the amount of water the RoboMop sprays on the floor. I’m also experimenting with different cleaning pads, the unit came with disposable ones but I also ordered some more practical reusable ones which can be washed.

The RoboMop is smart enough to recognize carpet and avoid it which is great cuz I do have carpets on my tiles. Once the RoboMop finishes cleaning the floor it goes back to where it started from and turns off. So although I do wish it did have an auto start option I do like the fact I can turn it on before I leave the house and then come back to find my floors mopped and the RoboMop back in its spot.

At just 55KD the RoboMop isn’t that big of an investment in the robot cleaning world. Even shipping to Kuwait didn’t cost much since the unit is fairly light. There are smarter RoboMops available and even some RoboVac/Mop combos, but I didn’t really want to pay much more than this and really I mostly got this for my kitchen and so didn’t need anything smarter. I couldn’t find the RoboMop locally which is why I ordered it off Amazon. If you’re interested in getting one, here is the Amazon link.

BBT, one of my favorite burger places recently moved to a new much larger location. They were previously located in a small hole in the wall (literally) in Daiha but now moved to a new space in Shamiya.

The new location now has indoor seating as well as seating outside the restaurant and in the tiny park right next door. They don’t have drive-thru but they do have a car service which is composed of dedicated parking spots where waiters come and take your order. The whole process is very smooth and for those of you not wanting to dine out yet then this is a good alternative.

The opening time right now is 12:00pm to 11:00pm and here is their new location on Google Maps. They’re also on Instagram @bbtkw

Late last week the most popular car upholsterer Ehsan burned down. Ehsan was considered one of the best if not the best upholsterers in Kuwait and there were customer cars that were parked inside being worked on that all sadly burned. One of the cars that was confirmed to have burned in the fire was a beautiful white 1990s Honda NSX that belonged to the owner of B-Tune Performance.

I heard the fire supposedly started at around 3AM and when I passed by in the afternoon (picture on top) there was still smoke coming out of the building and fire trucks parked in the back still putting off the fire. I passed by again the following day and there were still fire trucks there and I saw that the whole building had collapsed into itself. I feel really bad for everyone that lost their car and I hope they get insurance money although I know that won’t bring their cars back.

A lot of people dislike TikTok and I think it’s because they associate it with just videos of people dancing to cheesy music. I actually love TikTok to the point I avoid it because once I start watching videos I don’t stop until I start running out of battery. It’s pretty addictive, fun, and can also be informative. During the Mahboula lockdown for example I started following a few low-income workers who were living there and they basically were providing me with their point of view on how life was there during the lockdown. During the US riots recently TikTok was providing me with on the ground footage of what was happening there. But I also follow some completely stupid shit but that’s what makes TikTok so great, it’s whatever you want it to be.

My account is just filled with so much random (not even curated) stuff from various people living around Kuwait it’s become super entertaining especially now that TikTok knows what I like and so shows me more of the same. I tried to put together a list of some interesting accounts I follow and below are a few of them:

@sadiqleader – An employee at Jawad AlSaffar. It’s exactly what I’d expect their TikTok to be except it’s his personal account and it’s in Indian.

@fahad9881 – A firefighter, posts videos of various fires he’s fighting as well as cute animal rescue videos.

@in_ga_me – A Ukrainian female motorbiker living in Kuwait. The account is of her and her Honda CBR cruising up and down the Gulf Road.

@kuwaitrescueteam1 – Account of a local rescue team and it’s mostly videos of them getting cars unstuck from sand.

@_7xvo – The account of a Al Qabas newspaper journalist, was pretty useful during the lockdown.

@gooshbaker – Guy posts videos of interesting places around Kuwait. Kinda like a blog but tiktok.

@x_dexter_x1 – This is an account of a Syria guy living in Kuwait who re-engineers everyday appliances or electronics but using random bits and pieces of scrap. Kinda like science projects.

@alsarheed82 – Account of a shawarma place owner, he posts videos of his shawarma.

@shahibwtayb – A odd old guy with a super long white beard who drives a bright green Camero and never wears the same sunglasses or hats twice.

@ismayeelrana – This guy is an employee at Alsarraf Motors and posts videos of the cars they have as well as of him driving them around like they’re his.

@amorsisilin – Probably the most popular account I follow and also the most tiktokish. Belongs to a 24-year-old Kuwaiti hybrid and the videos originally were mostly of her dancing to music around my neighborhood, but now it’s mostly just dancing with her friends in different places.

@venudancer..kuwait – Lots of super cheesy skits, so cheesy and lame to the point they become good. Stuff that’s so bad you save the video to show your friends. It’s in Indian (I think) with lots of terrible acting. It’s great.

If you have interesting/weird/fun local TikTok accounts I should follow, let me know in the comments.