Search: “salmiya”

The Center For Government Communication released a visualization of how Covid-19 spread across Kuwait. Looks like Salmiya is safe 😅

Source @cgckuwait

Thanks xbs

I haven’t gone shopping in a supermarket properly since this whole pandemic started. Just being around so many people and waiting in line with people who don’t understand social distancing just gives me a lot of anxiety right now. I now do most of my shopping at the tiny Coops in residential areas and for things like A&W Root Beer, or other treats, I pass by a Sultan Center Express or a Trolley.

But, when I found out you can now book supermarket appointments after curfew, I decided to try it out.

Getting An Appointment

The website you need to go to is https://www.moci.shop/

You enter your Civil ID number, Civil ID serial number, email and phone number and you will be then be allowed to choose an appointment for the following:

– Slaughterhouse
– Fish Markets
– Cooperative Societies
– Grocery Markets

Depending on where you live you’ll have different options and places available since the options are related to your home address.

I live in Salmiya so under the “Grocery Markets” section it’s like hitting jackpot since I have the options of like 3 or 4 Sultan Centers, Carrefour, Oncost and Wholesome Food. Sadly none of them were working, I think it’s a coming soon thing. The only option I had was Salmiya Coop located under the “Cooperative Societies” section.

I wasn’t expecting any dates to be available but oddly I found a bunch for the same day and more for the next couple of days. I decided to book an appointment for 6:30PM which was around an hour later. Once you’re done booking you’ll get two QR Codes. One is for the supermarket and one is for the cops patrolling the street. The QR codes are connected to your Civil ID so everyone out during curfew needs to have a separate QR code and everyone entering the supermarket needs to have a separate one as well. I don’t believe you can get one QR code and just pack the family in the car and head to the Coop.

Curfew Pass

They don’t give you any information but I remember hearing or reading that you can’t get a supermarket/curfew pass and then head the opposite direction. Since I was taking the Alfa out I figured I’d plan a scenic route to the Coop.

Obviously I didn’t take that route but I thought it would be a funny thing to tweet. The thing is cops on roads give me a lot of anxiety even when I’m not doing anything illegal on a normal day. So driving to the Coop during curfew turned out to be super stressful because there were cops EVERYWHERE! Like every intersection and corner had a cop car plus cops driving up and down the roads and cops in unmarked cars. All with their flashers on so you can’t tell if you’re in trouble or not, you just feel they’re all flashing their lights cuz you did something wrong. Or maybe it’s just me cuz I get stopped a lot and guess what? I got stopped on my way to the Coop, and on my way back! If that wasn’t stressful enough my QR code gave errors both times with the cops. I guess because I had just done the booking? No idea but when they’d scan the QR code it would tell them it wasn’t valid. The first cop told me it was fine and I could continue on my way to the Coop, the second cop when I was heading back home wanted to investigate the error further so I ended up parked on the side of the road for around 5-10 mins. In the end, he also let me continue home.

The Supermarket

I got to the supermarket early at around 6:15. The first thing you do is sign up at the desk and give them your Civil ID. You get it back on the way out because I think it’s how they keep track of whos inside because every group is allowed 30 minutes of shopping. Our group was around 20-30 people. At 6:30 they told us we could go in and right away there was a rush of people crowding up wanting to get in because nobody understands social distancing or the fact that this wasn’t an episode of Supermarket Sweep. A friend who had an appointment at the same Coop but at 6PM told me they had let them inside in small groups of 5 people at a time so it depends on whos in charge I guess.

You are only allowed to get an appointment once a week FYI. So if I try to get another appointment now I get the following message:

Tips

Firstly, I doubt I’m going to get another shopping appointment again. I can’t deal being in a place with so many people right now. If people understood was social distancing was then yeah I could do it but a lot of people don’t get it. While my items were getting scanned at the cashier, a guy who works at the Coop came between me and the lady behind me (who was social distancing correctly) and started emptying her cart onto the conveyor belt. But like dude, I’m still AT the conveyor belt, I still haven’t paid, why did you have to squeeze up next to me to unpack her stuff? We were doing so well without your help. I had to tell him to move away and give me some space and he got bothered by it. Like, come on. So personally I’m gonna stick to smaller mini-markets for now.

But the first tip I’d give would be to take your time going in. If you can shop in less than 30 mins then you don’t have to get in right away. Just take your time, wait till the crowd leaves the first area (most likely the veggie section or whatever the first section at your supermarket is) and then go in. You’ll have fewer people around you and you would be visiting sections when everyone before you had finished from it and left.

My second tip is don’t register for an appointment if its an hour or less later. Not sure how long it takes for the QR code you get to work with the cops, but it’s annoying to get stopped and it’s even more annoying not to have a working pass. Next time I’d book for the following day just to be safe.

If you want to get a shopping appointment, here is the link again https://www.moci.shop/
(for English press the white box drop-down box on the top right)

Update: I’m closing this post for comments. If you have any issues check the FAQ over here.

Over the weekend Kuwait kicked off a sanitization campaign to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Trucks were going up and down the streets spraying disinfectants on the roads but I’ve got two questions which hopefully a reader might explain to me:

First question, why are roads being disinfected? I tried to find an answer online but can’t seem to find any solid answer to why it’s effective, I’ve found articles explaining why it’s useless but nothing that supports it. It’s not just Kuwait doing it, other countries are also sanitizing the roads like China and the UAE. In Dubai, they’re even using drones to do it although that might just be a PR stunt. So if anyone has a theory or an article on this please share it in the comments. I’m genuinely curious.

My second question is, why are they using ice cream truck music? You can hear it in the video above. It’s kinda funny because whenever I heard the music yesterday I ran to my window. It reminded me when I used to spend my summers in the States as a kid because I’d run to the window whenever I heard the ice cream truck music as well.

Interestingly, the baladiya are on my street today cleaning up the area around the garbage bins. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while then you know I’ve had lots of drama with the baladiya and the garbage on my street. This is the cleanest I’ve seen the bins area and I think it’s part of this sanitization campaign which is great!

A friend recently shared an instagram account with me that contained a lot of cool old photos of Kuwait, many which I hadn’t seen before. The account is called @badshaiji and the guy doesn’t mention the source of the photos, but I don’t think they’re his since I’ve seen a few in other places. I also think he converts a lot of colored photos to black and white for aesthetic reasons.

From all the photos on his account, three stuck out for me. The two above are from 1969 and of seaside casinos (basically coffee shops or social clubs not gambling casinos) that were located in Salmiya on Blajat street. I had never seen these before nor did I know they had existed. The third photo below is of a music shop on Fahad Al Salem street dated 1961. If you want to check out a lot more photos like this then check out the Instagram account @badshaiji

So yesterday was the first day of the curfew and it actually wasn’t bad at all. I live in a commercial area of Salmiya so it’s always busy with people out and about and cars always backed up on my street. It’s generally fairly noisy but not last night. Last night my neighborhood was very quiet which made me realize, this is probably how it feels like living in a normal residential area. I’ve not really experienced that since I’ve lived on the exact same busy street all my life so it was a nice change.

The best part of the evening was getting videos on Whatsapp of cops pulling people over who were out past the curfew. I took a bunch of those videos and clipped them all together so you can check them out above. I also added a funny one at the end.

Another thing I enjoyed doing was watching videos people were taking of the empty streets from their balcony. It would have been cool if we had live street webcams but since we don’t you could use the “Snap Map” feature in Snapchat instead. A few people also flew their drones yesterday to capture video of this never before seen situation like the one below.

Overall not bad for Day 1, now just 21 days to go.

Last time I checked, the top seller for nearly every burger restaurant on Carriage was a fried chicken burger. The reason I had checked was because a friend told me that was the case and I hadn’t believed him. But it’s true, we love our fried chicken sandwiches and that’s why we’ve got some really great options to choose from. Below are my favorites:

#1 Slaw CHKN from CHKN (KD2.650)
Bun: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Looks: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Taste: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#2 Crispy from Little Ruby’s (KD4.350)
Bun: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Looks: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Taste: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: ⭐⭐
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

#3 Milkyway from Lucky Bun (KD2.500)
Bun: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Looks: ⭐⭐⭐
Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Taste: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Firstly a quick disclosure, CHKN is actually a brand I’m involved in as part of my day job, but only for the past year. I’ve actually been a diehard fan of their fried chicken for years which is how I came to be involved with the brand. I love their burgers, they’re huge, crispy and I love the way they look.

Little Ruby’s, on the other hand, have one of my favorite beef burgers and also one of my favorite chicken burgers. Their Crispy burger uses Rice Krispies for the breading and it just tastes so good (without the pickles of course). Finally, Lucky Bun has recently become one of my new favorite places to order from mostly because they have a kitchen in Salmiya but also because their beef and chicken burgers are really really good. Picking between their Chick of LA burger and Milkway burger was difficult, but the Milkyway comes with a turkey slice which always reminds me of KFC’s Zinger Supreme which I also love.

What’s your favorite fried chicken burger?

Ghadeer al Bahrain isn’t a new place, it’s actually been open for around 30 years now yet I only recently found out about it. The place is even located very close to where I live so I’m not sure how I hadn’t heard about it until now. Ghadeer is a small hole in the wall restaurant serving super tiny meat skewers of different kinds. So far I’ve been there a few times and I think we’re averaging 15-18 skewers per person. I’ve tried their meat tikka, kebab, chicken tikka, and heart skewers and they’ve all been really good but my favorites are definitely the meat tikka and kebab.

The price of a skewer is 150fils which means mixing and matching is very doable (and more fun). Because of their size, the skewers also don’t take very long to be grilled so you can order as you go as I tend to do. There is indoor and outdoor seating but this place isn’t anything fancy, so manage your expectations before you get there.

Ghadeer al Bahrain is located in Salmiya and you can find it on Google Maps. They’re also on instagram @ghadeeralbahrain

If you still shoot with 35mm film then you know how difficult it is to find a place that can still develop film and how expensive it is. Previously I’ve recommended Ashkanani in Salmiya as an option but because of the cost of chemicals, they tend to wait until there are multiple film rolls and then batch develop them all together. This means the process could take a week or a month, you never know but they’re also expensive charging KD10+ per roll.

But, a few days ago I was at Souk Al Watiya behind Sheraton Hotel in the city and spotted a small store that still had a 35mm film development machine. The place charges KD2.5 to develop a roll and then 100fils per photo print. This means a roll of 36 shots would cost you around KD6. Not only is it cheaper than Ashkanani but they’ll also develop them quicker for you since they have no problem developing a single roll of film at a time.

If you’re looking for a place to develop film then this is a good alternative to Ashkanani. The store doesn’t have a name but it’s on the ground floor of Souk Al Watiya near one of the exits. Here is the location of the complex on Google Maps.

This is my view every morning when I wake up.

I know this sounds weird but there is an Irish Pub opening down the street from my place in Salmiya. According to their instagram (@irishpub.kwt) they’re going to be opening up any day now so I’m obviously going to have to pass by and check it out. I hope me reviewing pubs is going to be a thing soon!

Thanks Sharan!

Kuwait, there’s a better way to get around.

We’re super excited to announce that we’ve permanently reduced our prices! Now, a Careem ride is comparable with taxis on the street but without all the hassle.

With us, you never need to haggle or negotiate for a good deal. The fare estimate is displayed on the app, so you know the cost in advance. Plus, you don’t have to give our Captains directions or explain how to get there. Instead, you can sit back and relax. Careem’s advanced GPS and ride tracking will get you where you’re going.

No matter where you are in the city, you can get a ride in minutes. And best of all, we’re constantly giving you more with features like Careem REWARDS and Ride packages.

With REWARDS, you earn points with every ride and you can use these points for more rides or donate them to good causes. Ride packages let you plan ahead. You pay for bundles with BIG savings.

We’re always coming up with crazy offers through promo codes to make our rides even more affordable. Codes will be available for certain cities (like Salmiya), areas with limited parking and high-traffic zones.

We also give you so many choices! We know everyone has different preferences and that’s why we’ve created multiple car types to suit your style. Order a Business car type for a premium experience or a Taxi car type to save more.

We’re local, so it gives us pride to be the most affordable ride-hailing service in Kuwait!

Book your ride now!

Around a month ago Zain sent over a 5G router for me to test out at home. I’ve already posted a first and second impression post and now after trying out the device for a full month, I’m convinced it’s a must-have connection. There isn’t anything faster right now on the market, not even close.

Clearly 5G is super fast but there are two important questions that need to be answered here:

1) Do you really need 5G speeds?

No, I don’t think so, I don’t think the majority of people need 5G speeds, I personally don’t. Someone left a comment the other day under my iPhone 11 Pro post saying it sucks that the new iPhone doesn’t have 5G, and I have to ask, why would you need 5G speeds on your phone? On my home computers, I rarely download torrents anymore which is where I can see speeds of 500 or 700Mbps making the biggest difference and maybe for downloading a new videogame on my PS4 every now and then or a software update but that’s really it. For normal use 100Mbps would be more than enough. The reason I see the need for 5G is because not everyone can get a fiber connection at home and rarely anyone gets decent LTE speeds at home, so 5G is really the only other option.

When I tried downloading a torrent file over 5G, I hit speeds of around 10MB/s and I ended up downloading a 5GB file in around 7 minutes. 5G is so fast that it might have taken me longer to copy a 5GB file off my home server to my Mac. There is a wow factor when downloading large apps or PS4 updates and you see the progress bar fill up so quickly. 5G is so fast its stupid funny, and in my case where just until a few months ago the fastest connection I could get at home was 10Mbps, jumping up to 700Mbps is a HUGE difference.

So no, I don’t think anyone really needs full 5G speeds for normal use, but for the majority of people, 5G is the only way to crack the 100Mbps barrier at home.

2) Is it expensive?

I know a lot of people might disagree with me here but I don’t think 5G is expensive. If you compare 5G to fiber prices or how much I’m paying for Zain Beam, you’ll quickly realize the amount you’re paying for the speed you’re getting is actually great deal. Here is a quick comparison:

Zain Beam 20Mbps: KD25/m (unlimited bandwidth)
Fasttelco Fiber 50Mbps: KD35/m (unlimited bandwidth)
Qualitynet Fiber 100Mbps: KD32/m (unlimited bandwidth)
Zain 5G (500Mbps+): KD45/m (1TB bandwidth)

I think what really makes 5G seem expensive is the limited bandwidth. Optimally the minimum you would want is 1TB per month. I just checked my usage and from September 12 up to September 30, I consumed around 320GB of bandwidth which is a lot less than I was expecting so 1TB would work out just fine for my needs. If you download tons of PS4 or Xbox games, you’ll probably want more than 1TB and the next step up is a whopping KD65 for 1.8TB.

In conclusion, I want 5G at home even though I just signed up to Zain Beam a few months back. I did ask a Zain employee if I could “upgrade” from Beam to 5G and was told I could without any penalties so that’s good news. I am worried that once 5G becomes a lot more common the speeds would drop, but even if it drops to say 300Mbps I’d still be happy with it. If you haven’t checked out my previous posts on 5G here are the links:

First Impression: Zain 5G in Salmiya
Second Impression: Zain 5G in Salmiya

Also, here is the link to the Zain 5G website.

update: I was just informed that you can’t upgrade from Zain Beam to 5G so I updated my post to reflect that.

Onam is the biggest and most important festival of the state of Kerala in India and it’s also celebrated here in Kuwait. Today and over the weekend some Southern Indian restaurants in Kuwait will be offering the traditional vegetarian dish Onasadya and I’ve listed some of those restaurants below:

Sangeetha Veg Restaurant – Salmiya
Price: KD2.250
Telephone: 56503003
Facebook: SangeethaKuwait

Saravanaa Bhavan – Fahaheel/Salmiya
Price: KD2.500
Telephone: 23929099 / 25716686
Facebook: SaravanaaBhavanKuwait

Thakkara – Fahaheel/Salmiya/Farwaniya/Dajeej/Abbasiya
Price: KD2.000
Telephone: 23920699
Facebook: ThakkaraKwt

Udupi Restaurant – Fahaheel/Kuwait City/Salmiya
Price: KD2.000
Telephone: 22423021 / 25456565

If you know of any more places serving Onam, let us know in the comments.

Yesterday night I dropped by Calma, the first float center in Kuwait. Float centers (sometimes called spas) use large pods called isolation tanks that you float inside of in complete darkness to deprive your mind of external senses. The pods are soundproof and filled with extremely salty shallow water that is heated to your body temperature. The saltwater allows you to float effortlessly on the surface while zoning out in complete darkness and silence.

People use flotation tanks for muscle relaxation, to lower anxiety and to help with depression.

When you first walk into Calma it feels like you’ve just walked into a spa. After a small introduction on isolation tanks you’re led into one of their four flotation rooms where you’ll have access to your own pod and private shower. There you’re given some more instructions before you’re left alone to start your float session.

Although I had heard of flotation tanks before, I only got to try it for the first time yesterday. I was curious to know how it would feel floating in the tanks but I was also curious to see if it would feel claustrophobic or not. I did an MRI scan once and it felt extremely uncomfortable and so was worried this would feel the same. It surprisingly didn’t! The pod actually feels spacious once you’re inside, even after you close the lid. Then, once you turn off the lights it no longer feels like you’re inside a pod, it feels like you’re floating in the ocean in complete darkness or even in space.

The flotation sessions last one hour and cost KD30. Compared to prices abroad that’s fairly reasonable considering we’re in Kuwait and that Calma is located in the basement of Symphony Mall and not some shady first-floor building in Salmiya. Right now they’re in their soft launch phase and only accepting bookings through direct message on instagram. So if you’re interested in trying this out you can find them on instagram @calma_kw

Al Qabas newspaper launched a new service recently called Al Qabas Premium where they’ve digitized all their issues going back to 1972 and made them available online.

This is such a cool thing and I’m so surprised they did this. Previously the only way I could access their archive is by going to the National Library and having to flip through large and heavy books, so this is way more convenient.

Al Qabas Premium isn’t free, it costs $60 a year but you can sign up to a monthly package ($6) if you want as well. They do have some free content available and I just found the picture on top of Cinema Salmiya dating back to 1972 as part of their free content. But, $6 is pretty reasonable so I’ll be signing up to their monthly package.

Al Qabas Premium is in Arabic and if you want to check it out then click here.

Thanks Omar!

Update: Here is a video they just published about Al Qabas Premium