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I just recently finished watching the Netflix crime drama Mindhunter, and I loved it. The show is based on true stories and follows two FBI detectives in the late 70s, during the early days of criminal psychology and profiling. Because it’s based on reality, it feels like a well-done documentary at times like when we got to see how the term “serial killer” came about and various other ideas and interrogation methods we see today on current crime drama shows. Mindhunter is like the prequel to all crime shows.

The criminal cases covered on the show are all fascinating, but the characters and their own stories are as interesting, and by the end of the season, you’ll be attached to all of them. But, one of my favorite things about the show is how they’ve made the 70s cool again, in the same way Stranger Things brought back the 80s. The wardrobe on the show (especially Wendy’s outfits) along with the cars and the vintage electronics (that tape recorder used in the opening scene is so hot) just makes me want to go back and live in the 70s, which I kinda did over the past week…

Over the weekend I borrowed my old 1973 Datsun 240z from my friend whom I had sold it to. I hadn’t been in the car or driven it since I sold it nearly a year ago, but the show really made me miss it. Binge-watching Mindhunter and then stepping into a car from the same era and listening to music of that era, it felt like time travel for a little bit.

If you’re looking for a new show to binge watch and haven’t watched Mindhunter yet, then add this to your list. It’s available on Netflix Kuwait.

If like me you missed the opening of the 23rd GulfCup, here’s a pretty cool video of the fireworks that took place. [Vimeo]

Although we don’t have Uber in Kuwait yet, we do have various other apps that pretty much do the same thing. Over the years I’ve posted about a few but never in one concise post, and since some have stopped working over the years, this list is of current active ones.

Q8 Grand Limo
This is my favorite app/service right now, and the one I’ve been using constantly. It’s really made my cabbing experience in Kuwait great, the cars are super clean and fancy, the drivers are very polite and tidy, and I haven’t had any issues with them since I started using them back in May. Costwise, they’re more expensive than regular street cabs but the experience really makes up for the price. Plus, they gave me a 20% promo code when I posted about them back in May so for me, trips don’t cost that much more than regular street cabs. They’ve got around 30 cabs in operation including a Mercedes S400 in case you want to splurge. I actually got picked up by the S400 a few weeks back when they were super busy and didn’t have their regular cars available. Let’s just say I forgave them for being late and they can always pick me up late if they’re gonna do so in the S400. You can also book a cab ahead of time which I’ve done when I needed a middle of the night ride to the airport. [Link]

Careem
Probably the closest thing to Uber in Kuwait right now since they’re Uber’s main competitor in the region. I’ve never used them but I’ve got friends who swear by them. Like Grand Limo, they also have a ride later option which many people use to schedule airport rides and they also have their own fleet of cars. [Link]

Q8 Taxi
This is an app I posted about a few years ago and were one of the early ones to launch in Kuwait. I tried using them back then a few times and had a fairly average experience and then one day, it just stopped working. Now it seems they’re back since they’ve been advertising their app pretty heavily. Haven’t tried them and don’t think I will, but they’re the cheapest option in this list since they use regular street cabs to pick you up. [Link]

If there are any other apps I’ve missed let me know in the comments.

According to a contact of mine at the Touristic Enterprises Company, Shaab Park will not be reopening again. Back in August, the park along with Sultan Center and other businesses in that block were closed down and the whole area cordoned off due to contract issues. I was under the impression that the park was owned by TEC, but turned out only the land is actually owned by them.

I still have memories and photos of when I used to go to Shaab Park back in the 80s. It was a lot greener back then and it wasn’t fenced up as it is now (I should dig up the old photos). Even though I wasn’t a fan of the current iteration of the park, it was a place for young guys and girls to go hang out and meet up in so I’m sure it will be missed by many.

Photo from Fried Junk

Am I the only one in Kuwait who didn’t feel the earthquake. A short while ago my phone and twitter blew up asking me if I had felt the earthquake. I didn’t! I was shopping with a friend at Wholesome Foods when the earthquake hit and neither me nor my friend felt anything. So weird, I feel like I’ve totally missed out!

Thursday night I picked up my iPhone X from Digits in Marina Mall. They’d given me early access to buy one so that I could review it on the blog, but they made me promise that I wouldn’t turn it on until Friday morning 8AM. Apple is pretty strict with these things so I understood their concern. I know someone who had gotten an iPhone X a few days earlier, and when they turned it on, Apple sent the authorized reseller he had gotten the phone from a warning that they had 2 hours to shut it down or else. I wasn’t in a rush, I didn’t mind waiting till the next morning to play with the iPhone X, I was just glad I had my hands on one and didn’t have to wait in any line to get it.

I’m not the kind of person that upgrades phones every year, I was actually using an iPhone 6S until last week and was perfectly fine with it until my company handed me an iPhone 8. The iPhone X is the first iPhone in years that I’ve really wanted, and after using it over the weekend, here are my first impressions:

No Home Button
The iPhone X no longer has a home button and I was worried it would take time to get used to the new swipe up to go home gesture. But, I got used to it within the first few minutes of using the phone. To me it feels natural and so much slicker and faster than clicking down on the home button. So goodbye home button, you won’t be missed.

Face ID
This is probably my favorite feature in the iPhone X. It just works. The best way to describe it is that it’s as if your phone doesn’t have a passcode. To unlock your phone, you pick it up and then you swipe up to go home. Super simple, super fast. If for some reason your phone doesn’t wake up when you pick it up, you just tap the screen to wake it up and then swipe up. Again super fast. But Face ID has other advantages than just using it to log into your phone. When I get to a website that asks me to log in with my username and password, the phone checks my face and when it recognizes me automatically fills in my username and password. Another cool feature of Face ID is with notifications. When you get say a whatsapp message on your phone, you won’t see a preview. Pick up the phone and Face ID will recognize you and then show you a preview of the whatsapp messages [Example]. That’s a really smart feature because it means you can leave your phone out in the open and not worry about anyone reading your notification previews, but it also means you yourself can still read those previews. If you’re also wondering, Face ID works under different lighting so if you’re in complete darkness or out under bright sunlight, Face ID will still be able to read your face. Face ID was still able to read my face even though I had sun glasses on and even when my face was half stuffed deeply into my pillow.

The Screen
It’s huge and I’m loving it so far mostly because the blacks are so black. One of the biggest advantages of OLED screens (which is what the iPhone X uses) is the blacks are pure black. That’s because unlike LCD’s, to get the color black on an OLED screen it shuts off the pixels that are supposed to be black. So black is parts of the screen not lit up. Am I making sense? Imagine a room with no windows and one light bulb, to turn the room black you just turn off the bulb. No light = complete darkness = black. The “notch” on top of the screen isn’t annoying at all by the way, in fact I barely notice it. I mean its there, but it doesn’t hinder the experience of using the phone in any way. For those of you who are also concerned that not all apps are yet adapted to take full advantage of the iPhone X, from all the apps I use I think only 2 or 3 still display a black border on top and the bottom of the screen. The rest of my apps all display full screen and so it’s not really a big issue, and whatever apps don’t display in full screen I’m expecting them to by their next update.

Wireless Charging
I picked up a Belkin Qi charger from Xcite for around KD6 and have it on my bedside table. I noticed compared to the iPhone 8 the iPhone X has a larger wireless charging sweet spot. With the iPhone 8 it wouldn’t always start charging when I placed it on the charger but I haven’t had that issue with the iPhone X. If like me you use a magnetic mount for the phone it can still work with wireless charging. I have the metal plate sandwiched between my silicone cover and the phone, but I moved the plate all the way to the bottom of the phone and turned it sideways. That way the center of the phone is clear and the metal plate won’t interfere with charging.

Size vs iPhone 8
The iPhone 8 and X are virtually the same size. The iPhone X is slightly taller and thicker but too minor to even notice.

The Camera
Finally the camera, probably the most important aspect of the phone for me. I was always jealous of iPhone Plus owners since they had two lenses on their phones, the regular wide one and a more zoomed in one. Other than the added advantage of being able to zoom in closer to a subject (while maintaining the image quality), having two lenses allowed Apple to create the “portrait mode” feature in which it blurs the background making it look like it was shot with a DSLR. The iPhone Plus is too big a phone for me so I never considered getting it, but the iPhone X has the same camera system as the plus, with more features like a brighter aperture (f/2.4 vs f/2.8) and optical image stabilisation for both lenses not just the wide one. I haven’t really taken that many shots with it, just a few of my brothers cats and some of my friends and so far I really am loving the portrait mode.

So yeah as you can tell, I’m really loving the iPhone X so far. Although it was a big chunk of change to spend on just a phone, I think its worth it. If you’re looking to pick one up, Digits sold out their stock on launch, but are getting another shipment in around a weeks time. They currently have a waiting list so you can go and reserve a phone. The prices of the 64GB version is KD353 and the 256GB version KD405. A friend also just picked up a phone from Zain this morning but I think you have to sign up to a plan or something to get it (i.e. don’t think you can just straight up buy it from them).

Yesterday I was tagged on instagram under an image where a British teacher wanting to work in Kuwait was complaining about a school she applied to that wanted her to take her hijab off. The recruiter told the teacher that parents wanted their kids taught by teachers that didn’t wear hijab, and so if she was interested in joining, she would have to remove her hijab. I thought it was pretty bizarre that a school in Kuwait would discriminate against the hijab so I contacted the original poster who forwarded me all the emails and turns out its true. Below are the conversations between the teacher and the recruiter which I copy pasted from the emails. I’ve removed the name of the school and also replaced the names of the teacher and recruiter with fake ones. I’ve also forwarded the emails to Fajer the lawyer to get her opinion on the legality of this situation as well as contacted the school for their statement.

I’m curious if this is a widespread problem in Kuwait or just an isolated incident. How many teachers at this specific school ended up removing their hijab so they could get the job?

———-

Good morning Carla,
I emailed you about keeping me in mind for any other positions that may be available in the future but have not received any reply from you. Please will you destroy my passport documents if you are completely not interested anymore. In all honesty I feel gutted as I feel like I was not given a chance to show you that I would be ideal for the job. Surely I am entitled to an interview and then you can make decisions upon that.

Regardless of the situation, I am still interested and it would be very much appreciated if you could get back to me. Have a wonderful day.

Kind regards,
Faiza.

———-

Good Morning Faiza

Thank you for your emails.

I am so sorry I didn’t reply as I have been out of the office. I am happy to interview you as we may well need teachers for January 2018.

I do need to ask you if it would be possible to remove your hijab whilst teaching in the XXXX XXXXX Nursery school as our Kuwaiti parents like British Teachers but not wearing hijab. I know this is a delicate area and hope you do not feel offended in any way.

Please have a think about it and let me know if you would like to proceed to interview.

I look forward to hearing back.
Kind Regards

Carla
Recruitment
HR Department

———-

Afternoon Carla,
I have read your email and just wanted some clarification. I am extremely interested in this role but just wanted to know if it is necessary for me to remove my hijab in order to be successful for the job. Also Is it imperative for me to remove the hijab in order for me to go head with the interview process? Please could you let me know as soon as possible.

Kind regards
Faiza

———-

Hi Faiza
Thanks for your email.
It wouldn’t be necessary for you to remove your hijab to have a first interview with me but probably for second interview and we would need to have a photo of you without your hijab for Management purposes if you were successful, as your passport photo is of you covered.

Just for your your reference, in the XXXX XXXXX Schools, there are only female staff.
I look forward to hearing back.
Kind Regards.

———-

Hi Carla,
I partly understand what you are saying but still have a few questions. If I was to be successful would I have to teach with no hijab on or even meet parents with no hijab. Am I able to wear my hijab in my own time or is this an issue as well. As you can imagine I am a little bit confused as I felt the hijab would be preferred and encouraged in Kuwait more than anything as it is a predominately Muslim country- one of the main factors that reeled me into the job. I can understand for security and management purposes a non hijab picture may be necessary but I am finding it difficult to understand that Kuwaiti Muslim parents may be against the Muslim head wear. Please clarify when and where I will be able to observe the hijab or not. Thankyou for your time.

Kind regards Faiza

———-

Dear Faiza

The customer (the parents) do not want their children taught by covered teachers. It is an English School. You can wear the hijab whilst not on the school premises but not in the school.
If this isn’t acceptable to you I wish you every success.
This is non negotiable.
Kind Regards

Now that Game of Thrones finished for the season last night, I thought it would be an appropriate time to share some great new shows I recently watched.

13 Reasons Why
This show first aired back in April but I just got around to watching it a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t sure at first if I’d like it but I got hooked right away. 13 Reasons Why is about a high school girl called Hannah who ends up committing suicide. Before she died, she recorded 13 tapes with each tape discussing one of the 13 reasons why she decided to commit suicide. The show is 13 episodes long with every episode covering one tape and I loved that format. Although a lot of people found the show disturbing when it was first released, but I don’t think it’s that bad. Actually the only thing I found disturbing in the show was her suicide scene which I forwarded through anyway since I don’t like watching emotional scenes like that (or rape scenes for that matter). If you have Netflix, watch this if you haven’t already.

Atypical
Atypical aired a couple of weeks ago and I binge watched all 8 episodes back to back in one day. I loved it and its right up there in my top 5 or 6 shows of this year but thats probably because the show deals with autism, a subject I’ve been fascinated with for some time now. The show follows an 18-year old high school student called Sam, who is autistic and has decided to try and find a girl friend. The result is a lot of super awkward scenes and some really great development of characters including the dad who’s played by Michael Rapaport. This show is also on Netflix, and is also a must watch.

Ozark
Starring one of my favorite comedians Jason Bateman, this show is far from being a comedy. Ozark is a super dark drama in which Jason Bateman plays the role of a financial advisor that ends up relocating his family to the Missouri Ozarks after his dealings with a drug cartel go wrong. It’s such an out of character role for Bateman especially when he’s mostly know for his character Michael Bluth on the television sitcom Arrested Development. But Bateman played the role so well that now its going to be awkward for me getting used to him again as Michael Bluth when the 5th season of Arrested Development premiers. This is the last show on my list here but if you had time to just watch just one, this would be the one I’d recommend.

I had a plan. I was supposed to fly out of Kuwait Airport at 5AM via Qatar Airways, land in Doha, spend an hour and a half killing time before my second flight to Nice (France) also via Qatar Airways. I would have landed in Nice at 2PM, around the same time my best friend’s flight would have also landed. We were gonna pick up our rental, drive down the coast of France all the way to Marseilles, stopping along the way for some beach time and food.

Great plan if it wasn’t for the fact the Kuwait Airport luggage conveyer belt for check-in stopped working this morning. It was a disaster with bags pilled up all around and check-in taking far longer than it usually would. My flight ended up taking off over an hour late and by the time I landed in Doha, I had around 10 minutes to make it to my next flight. I realized I had a 90% I wouldn’t make the flight and let my friends know that before I took off from Kuwait. I stayed calm, I figured stressing wouldn’t solve anything and I accepted the fact I was gonna miss my flight.

Luckily, once I got out of the plane there was a Qatar Airways employee waiting for me, she told me we had to rush to my plane because they were waiting for me. I sent my friends a message letting them know I was miraculously gonna make it. While we were running to my gate the employee tells me they printed me a new boarding pass, just as she is giving it to me she notices something, the boarding pass was for August 18th.. the next day. Because my flight from Kuwait was delayed, they issued me a ticket for the next flight to Nice which was the same time but for the next day. I was devastated. I wanted to continue running to my gate but she told me it was too late, they would have closed it by now. I was mentally ready to miss the flight but then had my hopes raised only to be disappointed again. It sucked.

I stayed calm, I didn’t get upset or angry, I was a bit annoyed definitely but calm. We went to the transfer desk because I asked if there was a way I could get to Nice earlier. While waiting there everyone around me was screaming at the employees and I was just thinking how this must be the shittiest job in the world having to deal with all these frustrated and angry customers. The thing I found the most surprising was how they were finding me alternative flights to Nice. I thought there was some kind of sophisticated mechanism, a smart software with some sort of algorithm that would figure out the fastest way to get a person to a destination. But it wasn’t anything like that, it kinda seemed very manual.

First they came back to me telling me I could fly out through Zurich and I’d arrive in Nice 10AM the next day. I then asked if there was a flight via Paris, so they checked and came back to me 15 minutes later telling me there was, but it had a 12 hour layover and I’d arrive to Nice the next day at 8AM. I then asked them what about flights via London. They got back to me telling me there was a flight via London and I’d end up in Nice at 2AM, but the flight from London to Nice was fully booked. I told them they could put me in economy and that I didn’t care but she said it was against their policy. I told her to try at least, so she left and came back 15 minutes later, this time telling me there was another flight from London and I could be in Nice by 11:30PM. And thats the flight I’m taking now, boarding actually starts in around 30 minutes. Kinda weird that I had to come up with routes when I would assume their software could do that.

Overall, a pretty dramatic morning for what should have been a routine trip. At least I’m flying out now on A380 (my original flight was a Dreamliner), I think there is a bar with a lounge onboard which should be pretty cool. I was actually just thinking how Qatar Airways put me on a more expensive flight so I could still get to Nice today which was pretty nice of them. It wasn’t their fault that the conveyor belt at the airport stopped working, they could have just kept me on tomorrows flight. So definitely a good experience for a shitty situation.

The other day I posted a list of speciality coffee shops around Kuwait and it’s a pretty overwhelming list. Thats why I decided to create a much smaller list by sharing my personal favorite coffee spots:

% ARABICA
I’ve only been drinking coffee since around September of last year and I only started because of the Arabica team who got me to try a bunch of different coffees. Now I’m super loyal to the brand to the point where people wonder if I’m their brand ambassador. I’m actually typing this post while I’m sitting there right now having my coffee. I love their short hot lattes and on a super warm day when I’m craving something sweet, I like their iced Spanish latte. They’re where I get all my freshly roasted beans from and they also have the best pain au chocolat in Kuwait.

VOL.1
Vol.1 is what started the whole coffee craze in Kuwait. They’re one of the first speciality coffee shops in Kuwait and it was their success that sparked the local coffee revolution. Their location in Mayar Complex in Shuwaikh (pictured below) has probably one of the nicest interiors of any store in Kuwait if not the nicest. My favorite coffee is their cortado.

CAFFEINE
Caffeine are also one of the first speciality coffeeshops to open up in Kuwait. I never liked their location in Souk Mubarakiya but their new location in Shuwaikh across from Mayar Complex is pretty sweet (pictured on the very top). The only downside is I have terrible phone signal there and they don’t have wifi, so take a book with you. My favorite coffee is their spiced latte.

RICHARD’S COFFEE
Originally started off as a pop-up (pictured below), Richard’s Coffee recently moved into their new permanent home in Kuwait City. Their interior is pretty minimal and chill with their atmosphere being the most hipsterish of the bunch listed here. My favorite coffee is their cold brew.

TOBY’S ESTATE
I actually crave the coffee at Toby’s, they have a drink called Toby’s Latte which is infused with vanilla and tastes so good so I usually drop by whenever I miss it. Their location on the same street at Vol.1 doesn’t have a lot of seating let alone tables so I usually just pick up my coffee and go.

Also, while we are on the subject of coffee, the Kuwait Aeropress Championship is being held next week so if you want more details or you want to compete, click [Here]

A lot of people are becoming vegetarian or vegan for some reason so I figured it was worth putting this list together. Below is a list of restaurants that have a large selection of vegan and vegetarian dishes (not salads). I’m sure I missed out on a whole lot so let me know what else to add below.

BE Cafe
Fed by JM
Ginger
Greenland
Healthy Feast
OVO
Saravanaa Bhavan
Super/Foods
The Bowl
Udupi
Wilgrow

Since I’ve gotten back from my vacation I’ve been asked that question over a dozen times. The truth of the matter is, although it is something I consider every year when I visit L.A., I don’t think I’m leaving anytime soon. Other than the fact I still have things I want to accomplish while here, when I talk to family and friends living in L.A., I realize the grass is not that greener over there. I mean I’ve always known that, ever since I was a kid and played the PC game Theme Park. If you wanted to start a park in a highly populated country, you had to pay much more for the land. If you didn’t want to pay for land, then you’d have to build in a country with a smaller population which meant less income for your park. There were things you needed to compromise on depending on what country you wanted to build your theme park in, and its the same in real life. We compromise on one thing, but in return we have something else going for us here.

When people living in L.A. ask me about life in Kuwait. I tell them about how things are here and their eyes get all dreamy, wishing they were living in Kuwait and had our lifestyle. We generally have it pretty easy over here and in my case, super easy.

So yeah things aren’t perfect here and I’m usually the first to point the issues out, but if you don’t appreciate what we having going for us right now (we really do have a lot going for us), then you’re probably not making the best use of your time here.

Over the weekend I updated my old post which listed the majority of speciality coffee shops around Kuwait by adding some new spots. While updating the list I realized it had grown to the point of becoming difficult to go through and so wasn’t very useful. Thats why I decided to painstakingly go through the list and divide up the coffee shops based on location. This should make the list easier to explore so check it out below:

Abu Al Hasania
Dose Cafe
Tripple A Cafe
V60 Coffee Bar

Al Zahra’a
BRW

Jabriya
RumorZ Cafe
Wing Cafe

Kuwait City
7 Grams
20 Grams
33 Cafe
Alpha Café
Arabica
Ark Coffee Co.
ASPRO + PRO Coffee Bar
Awake Coffee
BLAKK Coffee
Bon Coffee
But First Coffee
CAF
Caffeine
Caveman Coffee
Coffea
Commons
Cova Specialty Coffee
CRL Bar
Dose Cafe
Drip Cafe
East
Grace
His Majesty
Jumo
Kaffa Kuwait
Kôfē – Espresso Bar
Let’s Coffee
Mood Coffee Bar
Muse Coffeesphere
Muse Espresso Bar
Not Just Coffee
OIA Coffee
OZ Coffee
Pause Coffee
Perhaps Some Coffee
Pirate Cafe
P R E S S
Richard’s Coffee
Savage Coffees
Sisters & Co
Street Cafe
The Breeze Cafe
Three and Barista
Toby’s Estate
ÜSHK
Vol 1
Volta
Wish Cafe

Mahboula
Ace Coffee
Made Caffe
OROMO Coffee Bar
Swing Coffee House

Mangaf
Mug
Vibes Coffee

Messila
Majnoon Qahwa

Rai
Amo Cafe

Salmiya
Magnet
Muse Lounge
Mr Koobs
New Brew Coffee

Shuwaikh
Arabica
Boost Cafe
Caffeine
Car Wash Cafe
Days*Cafe
Force Bar
Keys Coffee Shop
Shuwaikh Coffee
Ves Vas
Vol 1

In case I missed a place let me know.