Search: “kuwait”

Kuwaisiana is a New Orleans-based band led by Kuwaiti singer-songwriter +Aziz. The 7-piece group is an indie rock band and they recently launched their debut album titled “Chapter 1”. The album is in Arabic and English and you can stream it below or by going directly to [SoundCloud]

For more information on the band, check out their [Website]

If you grew up watching WWF (now WWE) and have access to HBO NOW, then you have to watch this new film by HBO. André the Giant is a documentary on the life of the professional wrestler, André Roussimoff starting from when he was young until his death in 1993.

I grew up in the 80s watching WWF, and André the Giant was one of my favourite wrestlers along with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and a bunch of other legends. My favourite part of this documentary was when Hulk Hogan talks about the lead up to Wrestlemania III where he was meant to fight André the Giant, I laughed out loud throughout the whole interview. The whole documentary was really entertaining to watch and made me miss the old WWF.

If you want to watch this documentary you need to have HBO NOW. If you don’t know how to access HBO in Kuwait, check out my previous post on how to access Netflix [Here]

Around six years ago, Ferrari launched the Ferrari FF model. It was a hatchback Ferrari with rear seats that could comfortably carry two large adults, but could also be folded down creating a ton of storage space for those ever important trips to IKEA. It was a very practical Ferrari and quickly became the daily driver for a lot of serious car guys including Chris Harris and YouTube car blogger Shmee. Then two years ago, Ferrari released an updated FF and called it the GTC4Lusso. The car pretty much looked the same with just a minor exterior facelift and the biggest changes coming under the hood and the interior.

People either loved or hated the way the FF looked like and it’s the same with the GTC4Lusso. Personally, I think its a great looking car and it reminds me a lot of the now classic BMW Z3 Coupe which was also controversial in the looks department.

Five minutes after driving out of the dealership I felt right at home in the Lusso. The car didn’t feel intimidating at all and I right away understood why so many people chose it as their daily driver. This is going to sound strange but the last time I remember a car being this comfortable to drive was the Mercedes S-Class. The way the Lusso drove over potholes and road imperfections, the way it took speedbumps and ate up cobblestone roads was just incredible, beyond anything I would expect from a high-end sedan let alone a Ferrari. Then you have the interior cabin which is fairly spacious, quiet and really comfortable to be in. The model I drove also had the panoramic sunroof which beautifully lit up the interior space. The most visual change in the GTC4Lusso over the FF is the interior since the center console now has a very large and sleek looking screen.

Oh yeah and my favorite part of the interior is probably the small screen in front of the front passenger, right over the glovebox. The touchscreen allows the passenger to control the stereo but also allows the passenger access to information like the speedometer, RPM and other car related information. A gimmick of course, but a well-executed one.

I had the car pretty much the whole day to do what I wanted with it, and yet I spent most of the day looking for traffic to drive into or backroads that might prove to be too rough for the car. I wanted to see how good a daily driver the Lusso was, and it just ate whatever I threw at it. In traffic it was comfortable to drive and no backroad turned out to be too much to handle. I completely get it now why a lot of people previously chose the FF and now the GTC4Lusso as their daily and sometimes their only car.

After spending the day with the Lusso I fell in love it with, so much so that I want one now. I test drive a lot of cars and not a lot of them capture my heart the way the Lusso did. Even when I took out the Ferrari 488GTB in January, it was a great car but I didn’t really want one. The way the Lusso made me feel reminded me a lot of how the Lotus made me feel when I first test drove it, and I eventually ended up getting one. The only problem in this case is the GTC4Lusso costs around KD100,000. That’s a lot of money to spend on a car and it would only make sense if I was in a much higher income class. But there is hope! I was at the Ferrari dealer a few days back checking out their used cars and they actually have 2 Ferrari FF’s for sale including a gorgeous silver one. Sadly the interior was a really bright red and gave me a headache so that’s a big no. But I’m not in a rush, and four or five years from now they’ll hopefully have a reasonably priced second hand Lusso for sale.

If you’ve got the budget and are looking for a sports car that you can drive daily, you really can’t go wrong with the GTC4Lusso. At 100K it’s in the price range of the extremely fast Huracán Performante and the hottest looking sports car right now, the McLaren 720S. But, unlike the GTC4Lusso, you couldn’t really drive those every day nor could you have them as your only car. If you’d like to find out more about Ferraris in Kuwait then you should follow the dealer on instagram @ferrarialzayanikuwait.

If you grew up with Swatches in the 80s then you’ll most likely recognize the X-Rated Swatch that was released in 1987, the GB406. I never had one, instead around that time I had the more colorful Swatch Navigator, the GB707. A couple of days back I was on eBay looking for a clean, but well-priced GB707 when I noticed someone selling a boxed X-Rated watch for around $120 which seemed weird. Usually, the original black X-Rated watch sells for around $500, and one in this condition would be even more. I realized something was up and quickly googled the X-Rated Swatch to find out Swatch had re-released the model last month!

It was around 11PM but since its Ramadan, I knew shops were still open. I called up one of the Swatch stores and asked if they had the watch in stock and I was told that the black ones had been pulled from the stores, but the red one was still available. I knew I could order the watch online but figured I’d head over to the store and try the red one out to see how it looked on my wrist, but also to get clarification on the “pulled” aspect of the black ones. I’ve had situations similar in the past with Swatch where a highly desirable model is usually put aside for their good customers/collectors.

I get to the Swatch store and start talking to the salesperson who turned out knew their vintage Swatches. She actually pulled out the store’s copy of the highly desirable and difficult to find “Swatch-Clopedia” and we started going through it. After reminiscing over classic Swatches from the 80s and early 90s, and then showing me some stock of old Swatch Guards they still had in store, I was about to leave when she told me to hold on. She picked up the phone and called her brand manager and told him there was a customer in the store who wanted the black X-Rated Swatch. She hung up the phone, went away for a minute and came back with a black X-Rated watch. She told me her brand manager told her it was ok to sell me one and I ended up paying the KD21 price and leaving with it.

The watch is pretty great looking and practically resembles the original 1987 version with very minor differences. Old Swatches tend to have small diameters but the new X-Rated is 41mm which is similar to most modern watches, I think it looks really good when worn. If you’re interested in this watch and can’t get it in Kuwait, there are a ton of people on eBay selling it for around $120 which is still reasonable. But of course, nothing beats walking into a store and paying retail price for one.

If you’re not fasting during Ramadan and want to order food before Iftar, then below are some restaurants that will deliver early. It’s not a big list but it’s still better than nothing.

China Garden
Chinese / 11AM
Telephone: 1805080

China Kitchen
Chinese / 12PM
Telephone: 25738754

Domino’s
Pizza / 10AM
Telephone: 1800800

Noodles
Chinese / 12PM
Telephone: 25749933

Osaka
Japanese / 2:30PM
Telephone: 22637331

Pastamania
Pasta / 12PM
Telephone: 1828585

Q at the Yard
Various / 1PM
Telephone: 22495067/8

Rock Chipsy
Japanese / 12PM
Telephone: 22218844

Rustic Thai Kitchen
Thai / 3PM
Telephone: 22204758

Sushi Club
Japanese / 2:30PM
Telephone: 25712144

Sushi N Roll
Japanese / 12PM
Telephone: 51168689

Top Dawg
Hotdogs / 3PM
Telephone: ‭67770062‬

The Untitled Deli
Sandwiches / 1PM
Telephone: ‭22273354‬

Upper Crust
Pizza / 1PM
Telephone: 22943200

I’ll be updating the list above as I find out about more places, if you know of a place that delivers before Iftar (like 3PM or earlier) let me know.

One thing that has always annoyed me with local online shopping services is that you couldn’t save your payment details like you do on Amazon for example. Looks like Knet are finally allowing your payment details to be saved because with the latest Carriage app update, you now have the option to save your payment information. This means when you place an order, all you need to do is enter your pin code instead of having to enter all your numbers and expiry date every time you place an order.

All I can say is finally! This is going to make online shopping in Kuwait a lot more convenient for everyone.

Update: So I got a phone call from Carriage awhile ago on this subject and they clarified to me one important point. Customer data related to bank details are saved on the user’s device, not on Carriage’s servers. The information is encrypted and then stored in your iOS or Android keychain, and you still need to input your pin on every transaction.

Last night I found out we have a 5th cinema operator in Kuwait called Ozone Cinemas. The surprising thing is that they’ve been open since last summer. Ozone is currently open in a mall called Trio in Khaitan and they’ll be opening up another theater in Jahra soon. Their locations is obviously the reason why I hadn’t heard about them until now. Check out their website [Here]

Thanks Ninar

It’s kinda crazy how overnight we basically doubled the number of airport terminals in Kuwait. Since its starting to get a bit complicated with the different namings, I figured I’d share the list below to help clear things up along with pictures.

Terminal 1
This is our current main terminal. It was opened in 1979 and was designed by one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, Kenzō Tange. The British architect and critic Stephen Gardiner wrote in 1985 that it was “the most beautiful airport in the world” because of its “breathtaking simplicity of color and shape.” It is “white sculptured space as cool as an ice-cube, as enormous as a vat intake of pure air, as light as a tent, as canvas hung from cables and sails.” The airport today no longer resembles the original one due to the amount of refurbishment it went through. There are no plans to demolish this airport, but once Terminal 2 opens up I hope someone decides to take it back to its original state. For more pictures of the airport, click [Here]

Terminal 2
This is the new and huge terminal that was designed by the British architecture studio Foster + Partners. It’s currently under construction and is expected to be completed in 2021. This is going to be a world-class terminal that will be able to compete with the likes of Hamad International Airport in Qatar and the Emirates Airline Terminal 3 in Dubai. For more pictures, click [Here]

Terminal 3
The Sheikh Saad terminal originally started off as a private planes terminal but later became the Wataniya Airways terminal. After Wataniya Airways shutdown, FlyDubai took it over. Until recently, flying with FlyDubai was the only way to avoid our horrible main terminal. But, now that the Jazeera Airways and Kuwait Airways terminals are opening up, Sheikh Saad terminal will no longer have an edge.

Terminal 4
This is the new Kuwait Airways terminal and is expected to be operational in June. The new terminal is located near the cargo terminal. Here is the location on [Google Maps]. This terminal will help ease congestion at the main terminal until Terminal 2 opens up in 2021. For more pictures, click [Here]

Terminal 5
Finally, Terminal 5 is the Jazeera Airways terminal I posted about last week. This terminal is now basically complete and will be open at the end of this month. Right now the terminal will cater only to Jazeera Airways flights but there are talks about possibly hosting another airline as well, possibly Emirates. For a complete walkthrough and pictures of this terminal, click [Here]

Future Terminal Expansion
In case needed, there are plans in place that can expand Terminal 2 to double the size. My guess if that happens, either the terminal will still be called Terminal 2, or they might be renamed to Terminal 2a and Terminal 2b. After expansion the terminal will be able to handle 50 million passengers a year. In comparisson, our current main terminal handles 6.8 million a year.

A friend of mine who lives in Dubai is signed up to this gym membership where she pays a set fee every month, and then has access to a number of gyms. She loves it because she gets to go to one gym for spinning, another for boxing, another for crossfit etc.. all with just one membership. Turns out we now have something similar in Kuwait called AllympiaPass.

AllympiaPass is a gym pass that gives you access to over 40 gyms in Kuwait. The way it works is simple (kinda), you sign up to one of their packages, then you launch the app and see what options you have available today or on a specific date. So you might be interested in pool access, or you might be interested in crossfit, you select what you want and you book it. That’s it. The app even allows you to filter between mixed classes or same sex classes and also by the area the gym is located in or by the kind of classes you’re interested in.

The only thing that makes the process a bit complicated is understanding how the membership plans work. Here are the packages available:

3 Passes / 14 Days
Visit any gym once
KD6

8 Passes / 30 Days
Visit any gym up to 3 times
KD28

12 Passes / 30 Days
Visit any gym up to 4 times
KD35

Unlimited Passes / 1 Month
Visit any gym up to 6 times
KD52

Unlimited Passes / 3 Months
Visit any gym up to 6 times
KD140

So, the complicated part here is with the wording of unlimited pass. Even though it’s called unlimited, it’s not really unlimited. The unlimited pass allows you to visit every one of the gyms they’ve partnered up with, but you can visit each gym up to 6 times only. For example, say you enjoy the crossfit classes at Flare Fitness, you can only visit them 6 times per month with their unlimited plan. This way you are forced to explore and visit multiple gyms which is the whole aim of the pass. At KD52 a month it’s actually not that bad of a deal.

If you’re interested in downloading the app and exploring it, here is the [Link]

Over the weekend, VOX Cinemas officially opened its screens to the public. They’re now the fourth cinema chain operating in Kuwait and their first location is in the fourth phase of The Avenues. You can book tickets and get more information by clicking [Here]

Their THEATRE by Rhodes section with the reclining cinema chairs and waiters service is still coming soon. For a tour of the VOX cinema, check out my previous post [Here]

If you’re part of any local whatsapp group, you’ve most likely seen videos similar to the one above. The videos usually show a bunch of guys performing dangerous stunts with their cars, and then a cop car shows up to stop the whole thing and arrest the drivers, but instead, they end up getting attacked or bullied around by the crowd.

Why don’t cops have partners in Kuwait? Instead of one cop per police car why aren’t they two cops per car. That way one has the other persons back. Is it because there aren’t enough cops? Also, are cops here not allowed to use violent force? By violent force I mean shoot the perps because from these videos it looks like the cops aren’t really feared…

Art exhibits in Kuwait are common, they usually take place at a gallery, the work goes up for some time and then it’s done. So when I found about the exhibit “Nothing to Write Home About” I was intrigued. Firstly they didn’t call it an exhibit, instead, they called it an intervention.

“Nothing to Write Home About” treats art as a consumerist activity. They intervened into the KIPCO mall space with a collection of works from a private collection that were previously stored in Kuwait. The works are visible from the storefront… but you can’t enter the store. This is to force you to think about other things related to the work, and not the work itself. There is a booklet for this intervention with notes, but even the notes aren’t about the works, but about the subjects the works bring up.

It’s a visually interesting display so if you’re interested in dropping by, check out the event page for more info [Here]

Last week there was a slightly controversial post in the Kuwait sub on Reddit. Basically, a user wanted another user to stop sharing his gaming vlogs because he didn’t think anyone was interested in them. I personally wasn’t a fan of the videos, but I thought that request was pretty shitty. Just because I didn’t like the videos or the majority of people didn’t like the videos, I don’t think its fair to muzzle someone who is actually taking the time and making the effort to create content. Good or bad, at least they’re active and doing something.

So I decided I’d share the two local video game vloggers I’m aware of in this post. I’m not a fan of either of them but I do appreciate the fact they’re doing what they love to do and that deserves some recognition. So if you’re into video games, check out the two vloggers below:

DarkWolf80s
I find DarkWolf80s super cheesy and his video titles are 100% clickbait, but I have to give the guy credit, he does love his video games. DarkWolf80s has released 11 videos this year alone covering various topics, mostly super geeky ones which I like, it’s just the videos themselves I don’t like. So if you want to check out his channel, click [Here]

DarkraiQ8
If you’re into Pokemon then you’ll have to check DarkraiQ8’s YouTube channel so you’ll realize you’re really not into Pokemon. The guy is like Pokemon fan level 40 which is why I don’t watch any of his videos. I think they’re really boring but the guy is super dedicated publishing a new video every few days. It’s definitely for Arabic speaking die-hard Pokemon fans. So if you’re a Pokemon geek, check out his channel [Here]

Know of any other local video game vloggers? Let me know in the comments below.

Back in October, an English school got a lot of heat when they refused to hire a teacher unless she took her hijab off. You would think other schools would have learned from that incident but doesn’t look like that happened.

The blog Life in Kuwait just posted a number of screenshots of a conversation she had with a school in Kuwait she was applying to that kept highlighting the fact that if she wanted to work there, she shouldn’t wear a hijab.

I can’t get over how bizarre it is for a school in Kuwait to make such a request. Check out the whole conversation on the Life in Kuwait blog [Here]

A couple of weeks ago I got back from LA and brought back with me the Google Home Mini and the Amazon Echo Dot. I actually got two Amazon Echos, I put one in my bedroom and the other in the kitchen while I put the Google Home device in my living room. After using them for two weeks I sadly can’t tell you which is better because I don’t think there is a clear winner. But what I’ll do is explain how I’ve decided to use them and the issues I have with both of them and hopefully, that will give you an idea on which one you should get.

Firstly for those of you who have no idea what the Google Home and Amazon Echo are, they’re voice-controlled devices like Siri on the iPhone. Amazon’s assistant is called Alexa while Google’s is simply called Google Assistant. Recently Apple released the HomePod which uses Siri. The reason I didn’t get that instead is the price. At $350, the HomePod would be pretty expensive to add to every room in the house plus, I already have a legit speaker in every room of my apartment anyway the HomePod would make them redundant. On the other hand, both the Echo Dot and Home Mini cost $50 each, so the three I got cost less than half the price of one HomePod. I connected the bedroom Echo to my Bang & Olufsen Beolit 12 speaker and the kitchen one to my Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A2 speaker. I left the Google Home as is because I wasn’t planning to use it to play music.

Let me take the opportunity now to explain how I’m using the devices.

In the morning I tend to wake up and play music on the BeoLit 12 in my bedroom. Before I got the Echo, I used to launch Spotify on my phone and then AirPlay the music onto my bedroom speaker. My phone also used to be my alarm. Now on the other hand, I set the alarm on the Echo and when I want to play music I just go “Alexa, play music everywhere”. Everywhere is a group I created that includes my bedroom and kitchen Echo. So now I get music playing in my bedroom, and my kitchen downstairs. Then just before I leave my house I go into the kitchen, get my car keys and say “Alexa stop” and it stops playing music in my apartment. I also have Alexa setup to work with both my Amazon Music account and my Spotify account. When I say for example “Alexa play jazz”, it will connect to a jazz radio station on Amazon Music, but when I say “Alexa play music” or “Alexa play my discovery weekly playlist on Spotify”, it will either continue playing where I last stopped on Spotify, or play the specific playlist I asked for.

While I use Alexa for music, I use Google for questions, like I do on the web. I have it set up in my living room where I spend 90% of my time in. So far it’s been super helpful while friends were over. For example, I was sitting talking to a friend and they asked me how long the flight from NY to LA was. I estimated at around 5 hours but then I was like “Hey Google, how long is the flight from NY to LA?”. Within an instant, Google replied that a non-stop flight was 6 hours and 15 minutes long. Another time I was watching a movie and someone mentioned a banana daiquiri. I was curious to know what alcohol is used to make a daiquiri so I was like “Hey Google, whats in a banana daiquiri?”. A second later google responded back with the ingredients of a banana daiquiri. I’m picking up my phone to google stuff a lot less now because I can just ask Google a question verbally. And unlike with Siri, it just feels more natural to talk to Google. It just understands normal dialogue like a real person while with Siri I sometimes feel like I have to talk to it knowing she’s an AI. Not only that but Siri barely understands me sometimes and a good example is now while typing this post, I just asked Siri whats in a banana daiquiri and she responded with the weather report. Like WTF Siri?!

Another cool feature with Google Home is it can tell me if there is traffic on my way to work. Since Google knows where I live and where my office is (I had this setup on Google Maps from before), I can just ask “Hey Google is there any traffic on my way to work?” and it will respond with an answer and then tell me which is the fastest route to take and how long it will take me to get there. Not only that but I could ask it where the closest McDonalds is and how far it is to walk to and it will tell me!

I haven’t really asked Alexa a lot of questions but I did try the banana daiquiri question on her and she struggled. She struggled mostly to understand what I was saying and then told me what was in a daiquiri but not a banana daiquiri.

So you’re thinking Google Home is clearly the winner here. It’s not since I’ve had some weird issues with it. Firstly I can’t seem to set Spotify as my default music player so when I tell Google to play music, it replies saying I need to set up my default music player. But when I go to that section in the app, it won’t let me pick Spotify. To play music I have to say “Hey Google, play music from Spotify” which is annoying cuz its easier to just ask “Hey Google, play music”. Then the worst part is, Google Home doesn’t work with G-Suite. Since my Gmail account is connected to my 248AM domain I have a G-Suite account and it won’t work with Google Home. I can’t connect Google Home to my Calendar or email which is so bizarre. Amazon’s Alexa, on the other hand, connects to both my Gmail and Google Calendars! How weird is that? Alexa also has a ton of plugins so say we had Uber working in Kuwait, you could install the Uber plugin and then be able to call an Uber by talking to Alexa. I’m using Uber an example here but there are plugins for everything imaginable.

So which device to get I really can’t tell you. I like having both. Between the two, the Google Home Mini sounds a lot better than the Amazon Echo Dot but really if you want to use it as a speaker, both Google and Amazon have much better-sounding devices. You can also do a lot more with both devices like control home automation, have them tell you the news and with Google Home you can even play games with it or use it as a doctor (say “hey google, virtual nurse”). But my needs are very simple as you can see above. Both Google and Amazon devices are available in Kuwait, Xcite sell both at KD20 each and you can most likely find it at other stores as well. If you have any questions, let me know below.