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In the past month I’ve taken three generations of Ferrari convertibles out, the Ferrari California, the Ferrari California T and most recently, the brand new Ferrari Portofino. I loved the experience except for the fact that I had to give the cars back at the end of the day. The Portofino was the best of the bunch but its also newer and more refined so giving it back was also the hardest. I don’t know why I do this to myself, I should test drive cars I dislike that way I don’t feel upset when I have to give them back.

The Ferrari Portofino was launched earlier this year as a replacement to the California T which I test drove a couple of weeks back. Like the previous two California’s, the Portofino is a hardtop convertible which makes it extremely suitable for Kuwait’s weather. After driving and loving the California T, I was really curious to see how much further Ferrari would be able to improve on such a great car. Turns out quite a bit.

When I parked my car at the dealership and spotted the Portofino outside waiting for me I got super excited. The car looked incredible and I couldn’t wait to get the keys and drive off. The lines on the car are very sharp, the front lights now resemble the latest Ferraris and the rear end I think had the biggest improvement with a much more aggressive look. The interior also got a major facelift and now looks very similar to the GTC4Lusso which I also test drove a few months ago. Like the GTC4Lusso the center screen is now huge and uses Ferrari’s updated infotainment system that also includes Apple CarPlay. It’s very slick looking and gives the interior a very futuristic feel.

Since there was rain in the forecast and the sky was getting darker, I decided to get some photos of the car before the storm hit. The dark clouds ended up adding a lot of drama to the shots and because the car was so photogenic, it didn’t take me long to get my photos before I got back out on the road. I had some errands to run in Shuwaikh again and one of the things that keeps surprising me about these new Ferraris is how well they handle the inner streets with all the potholes and imperfections. They’re so good I actually ended up googling information on them and turned out Ferrari uses “magnetorheological dampers” which is a suspension system that’s controlled by magnets and software. It’s very impressive in real-world use because on flat roads at high speeds, the suspension is fairly stiff, but then a few minutes later you’re in Shuwaikh traveling over bumpy horrible roads and the suspension eats up all the imperfections giving you a super comfy ride. Their software controlling all this is super smart and makes me wish I had a similar setup in my violently rough Lotus.

Once I was done with my errands I headed to the Gulf Road. The weather was still good at that point so I was enjoying the drive and the much-improved sound system. The Portofino felt considerably faster than the California T even though on paper that shouldn’t have been the case since performance-wise, they’re supposed to be pretty close. My theory is the Portofino feels a lot faster because the exhaust note is now louder and more aggressive sounding while the gearbox is more responsive. Even when it started raining later in the day and I had to close the roof I still continued to enjoy the car since it was easy to drive and didn’t mind the road legal speeds we were traveling at.

The only two negatives with the car I could think of is that I had to give it back, and that I can’t afford one even though the starting price is a very reasonable (in Ferrari standards) KD 68,000. That price can quickly go up depending on the options you add, but even with the base model, it’s not like you’re getting any less of a car. If you can afford it and are looking for a convertible that’s fast, extremely comfortable and great looking, you need to check the Portofino out if you haven’t already done so. It really is one of the best looking convertibles on the market.

The local Ferrari dealer is located on Instagram @ferrarialzayanikuwait and their website is alzayani.com/ferrari

It’s a long weekend filled with events so hopefully, it won’t rain this weekend. Check out all the events taking place below:

Thursday
43rd International Book Fair
49th Palestinian Cultural Exhibition
Italian Vehicles & Motorcycle Exhibition
PLAMO CON
Thanksgiving BBQ
Fall Festival – Art & Music in the Yard

Friday
43rd International Book Fair
Italian Vehicles & Motorcycle Exhibition
PLAMO CON
Festive Open House
Hello Winter

Saturday
43rd International Book Fair
Italian Vehicles & Motorcycle Exhibition
Guided Tour: Old Kuwait City Tour
Wejha Arts Open Day
ArtSpace Pop-up
Concert: Suad Massi

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

Earlier this week Xcite hooked me up with the brand new iPad Pro 12.9-inch that was recently released by Apple. I hadn’t really considered getting the 12.9-inch iPad Pro until I realized it would be a great way to edit my photos using Adobe Lightroom. I’ve had the iPad now for less than a week and still need to pick up the Apple pencil and keyboard, but I wanted to post my initial impression first until I get the rest of the stuff.

My current Mac setup at home is composed of a 27-inch iMac which I use mostly for my design work, a 13-inch MacBook Pro which I use as my daily computer, and a 9.7-inch iPad Pro I use for random things like watching YouTube videos in bed or when I want to chill and browse the web at a coffee shop. Most of the reviews online have been discussing if the new iPad Pro’s can replace your computer, I wasn’t looking to do that instead, I wanted it as a supplementary device to my current setup. My first impression so far? I’m loving it.

The thing that surprised me the most is the thickness and size of the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro. It’s thinner than my iPhone XS and even though I had read that in the reviews, I didn’t believe it until I put the iPad next to my phone. I compared the size of the iPad to various mac devices and you can see some of those comparisons below with more on my instagram acccount @mark248am. It’s clearly a much more manageable size compared to the older larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

So far I’ve mostly been using the iPad to edit the photos I took of the Ferrari Portofino I test drove a few days ago. I’ve been using Adobe Lightroom and the process has been super smooth. Because the new iPad Pro uses USB-C, I was able to connect my Sony A7 III camera to the iPad and copy all the photos easily and I’m loving the experience so far.

Really my only gripe with the new iPad so far is that it’s a fingerprint magnet (more than usual). Both my older 9.7-inch iPad Pro and my iPhone don’t capture as many fingerprints and it really shows on the screen both when turned on and off. I guess things will improve once I get the Apple Pencil but still, this is pretty annoying.

Once I get the pencil and keyboard I’ll post a more thorough review but for now, if you’re interested in picking up a new iPad Pro I think Xcite still have a few left [Link]

Screenshot from Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas, Sky Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Blue Night (4.6)
Burn the Stage: The Movie (9.3)
Cinderella and Secret Prince (5.7)
Dog Days (5.8)
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (7.1)
Galveston (6.2)
I Still See You (5.7)
Malicious (5.0)
Mara (5.1)
Ralph Breaks the Internet (8.1)
Robin Hood (5.8)
Street Shadows (N/A)

Other Movies Showing Now:
A Private War (7.0)
A Star Is Born (8.5)
Bel Canto (5.1)
Halloween (7.5)
Hunter Killer (6.6)
Johnny English Strikes Again (6.7)
Overlord (6.9)
The Grinch (6.1)
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (5.4)
Venom (7.1)
Zoo (6.7)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

If like me you don’t have satellite (live TV) and rely on streaming for your entertainment, you can still keep up to date with what’s going in Kuwait by watching the news online. Both KTV1 and KTV2 have live online streaming and you can watch them both on the MOI website [Here]

Not sure why, but it looks like the latest dessert trend in Kuwait is Japanese cheesecakes. I’m a fan of Japanese cheesecakes and if you like them as well, here are my favorite three places to get cheesecakes from:

The Cheezery
I’ve been getting Japanese cheesecakes from them for over a year now and they’re really good and the sizes of the cakes are fairly large so perfect for gatherings. They also have a location in Sharq for pick up across the street from Arraya.

Medium: KD14
Large: KD16

Here is their location on [Google Maps] and they’re on Carriage [Here].

Kotton
This is a new place that opened up recently and other than the fact their cakes are really good, they also come in a variety of sizes including mini ones. Their packaging is great and their cakes are the densest of the three here. They also opened up their physical location last week and you can pass by and have a mini cake with coffee if you don’t want it delivered.

Mini Cake (3pcs): KD4.5
Medium Cake: KD9
Large Cake: KD16

This is their location on [Google Maps] and they’re on Carriage [Here]

Japan Bakery
Finally, Japan Bakery is the most recent place I tried. Their cakes look the cutest and are fluffy but also are less cheesy tasting than the other two. They sell their cheesecakes on Carriage under the brand “Makers” which is a place that carries a bunch of different smaller locally created dessert brands. You can also pick up a cake from Hamra since there is a Makers kiosk there.

Medium Cake: KD8.5

Available in Hamra Tower or on Carriage [Here]

If you have another favorite place let me know in the comments below.

As I mentioned in my last Ferrari post, in the lead up to my Ferrari Portofino drive, the local Ferrari dealer and I decided I’d test drive the two previous models first, the Ferrari California, and the Ferrari California T. I wasn’t really excited to drive the California T after driving the California because I assumed they would be too similar. I didn’t think there would be much to write about but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I was lucky enough to pick up the car on Thursday last week when the weather was still perfect. It was going to rain that evening but it was clear during the day and the sky was really beautiful which really helped my shots come out great. Actually, the color and the lines of the car also helped with that as well. The California T looks similar to the previous California at first glance, but there are some defining differences. On the exterior, the biggest change would be the front lights and the slightly more aggressive styling on the side. While on the inside, the biggest change would be the updated entertainment system and the steering wheel. In my last California post, I mentioned how one of the things that made the car feel normal was the lack of buttons on the steering wheel. In the California T, the buttons that control the turn signals, lights and wipers are now all back and located on the steering wheel. Definitely overwhelming at first but you quickly get used to it and then wonder why other car manufacturers don’t do this as well.

But, the biggest change with the California T takes place under the hood. The T stands for turbo and the California T has two of those connected to a V8 engine producing 553hp and a 0-100km time of just 3.6 seconds. The car felt a lot faster than the first generation California and handled a lot better. The car felt a lot stiffer during turns but yet somehow still managed to eat up potholes comfortably. Really the only issue I could think of if I was being picky is the exhaust sound, I wished it was louder at normal cruising speeds. The car was a lot of fun to drive and while with the first California I dropped it back to the dealership earlier than I was supposed to, with the California T I actually wanted to keep it for the weekend.

The next Ferrari I’ll be taking out is the newer Portofino so I’m pretty excited about that. I saw the car on display at the dealership and it looks even better than the California T so can’t wait. The car I drove in this post is actually a 2016 model and listed on their for sale on their pre-owned website for KD59,000. But the dealer does have one starting at KD43,000 and you can check it out along with the one I drove and the rest of their pre-owned lineup [Here]

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A post shared by KUWAIT UPTO DATE (@kuwaitup2date) on Nov 9, 2018 at 9:29am PST

I was on the Kuwait sub on reddit and people were talking about the floods in Kuwait. I had no idea what they were talking about since I’ve been home all day so I popped open @kuwaitup2date and turns out Fahaheel got flooded earlier this evening from the rain. No idea how it happened but it’s horrible, it’s a legit flood.

They’re saying the weather is going to get worse so I decided not to risk it and moved my Lotus to a multistory lot next to my house so it would be parked a floor above ground. Although my building’s basement has never flooded, after watching the videos from Fahaheel I’m not risking it.

If you’re curious to know what has been happening in Fahaheel, check out @kuwaitup2date since he’s been posting a lot of videos.

PEKO PEKO is a new restaurant that opened up this past weekend and it’s one I had been waiting to open for a few months now. That’s because PEKO PEKO used to be called RAW before they closed down this past Ramadan for renovations. RAW was one of my favorite sushi places and so I was disappointed they had closed down but also curious to see what they were going to open up instead. The chef is the very talented Abdullah AlYaqout so I knew whatever he was cooking up was going to be interesting.

While RAW was a purely Japanese eatery, PEKO PEKO is a Japanese eatery but with East Asian influences. What this means is you’ll find more than just your typical sushi on the menu. With so many sushi places in Kuwait and some really good ones, they probably realized that they had to do something different to stick out and I think they did a pretty good job based on what I tried. The menu I had was the tasting menu and so was fairly limited and didn’t include the prices, but I pretty much liked 8 out of the 10 or so dishes I tried.

I’ll be heading back there this week again to try their full menu and maybe post about the place properly, but for now, if you’re looking for a new restaurant to try then check them out. They’re in their soft launch phase so they’re currently open only from 6PM to 10PM (but daily). For pictures and a link to their location, check out their instagram @eatpekopeko

When it comes to Ferrari convertibles, I’ve had a bit of bad luck. The first time I took out a Ferrari convertible to drive, it was the Ferrari 458 Spider, a beautiful car that I happened to take out during a terrible dust storm. I did end up with some eerie desert shots of the car, but still, I would have loved to have driven the car up and down the coastal road on a beautiful day. I was later offered the Ferrari California, but it was in the summer and I had to pass on it, then again this past summer I was offered the new and gorgeous Ferrari Portofino to test drive, again I was super tempted but had to pass since it was too hot to drive with the roof down.

But, recently while talking to the Ferrari team, I brought up the Portofino again. I really wanted to take the car out but turns out their test drive vehicle was in Oman for an event and wouldn’t be back in Kuwait for a couple of weeks. So we came up with a cool idea, I’d do a heritage drive of a sort. While waiting for the Portofino to arrive to Kuwait, I’d take out the older Ferrari California, and then the newer Ferrari California T before finally taking out the Ferrari Portofino. Three Ferraris, obviously I wasn’t going to say no.

I ended up picking up a red (Rosso Corsa) Ferrari California last week on a beautiful day. The sky was blue and the weather was cool so first thing I did was drop the roof before leaving the dealership to run a few errands. People have a love and hate relationship with the California with most of the hate coming from Ferrari enthusiasts. Now that I’ve driven a few Ferraris I can understand where the misunderstanding of the California comes from. While all the Ferraris I’ve driven have been pretty aggressive and intimidating, I found the California to be fairly chill. As soon as I sat in the car I felt comfortable, mostly because the controls were similar to other non-Ferrari cars. With the Ferrari’s I had previously driven, the steering wheel contained all the buttons for controlling things like turn signals, wipers, lights etc.. It’s a bit overwhelming at first to see all these buttons when you’re used to having levers behind the steering to control these things. It takes a bit of getting used to but the California had a fairly normal steering wheel with just a Start/Stop button and the ride control switch. It felt more like a normal car and I think it’s little things like this that put off the Ferrari enthusiasts.

Driving the California didn’t feel scary either. The California wasn’t crazy fast and felt very manageable and friendlier than say the Ferrari 488GTB. The ride wasn’t harsh, and the car didn’t look aggressive nor did it feel like it was trying to get your driving license revoked. It felt like a beginners Ferrari which is why the car appeals a lot more to women. In fact, when I posted pictures of the car on my instagram, all of the positive comments I got that included heart eyes emojis came from my female followers, while all the puke emojis came from guys.

The California is a car you could use daily, it clears speedbumps easily, it has back seats which are fairly usable and it has a folding hard top which I always prefer over the soft ones. Would I buy one? No I wouldn’t, if I was to buy a Ferrari it would for sure be the GTC4Lusso or the older FF. Actually, if we’re being hypothetical here and talking about convertibles, then the Ferrari convertible I’d want is the Ferrari 488 Pista Spider. But that’s not gonna happen.

The Ferrari California I drove was a 2014 model and is part of their pre-owned collection. All their pre-owned cars are approved and certified by the special Ferrari Approved Program so you’re pretty much buying a used car that’s as good as new.

The car I drove is listed on their website for KD35,000 and you can check it out along with the rest of their pre-owned cars [Here]

Below is a list of this weekends events. There also is a rallycross event taking place at 1:30PM today at Kuwait Motor Town. I don’t have it listed below because I don’t have much more details on this. Check out this weekends list of events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Memory of Peru
The Divan’s Movie Night – Moon
Japanese Short Movie Night

Friday
Exhibition: Memory of Peru
Saracen Race 2018
Battle of the East 2018

Saturday
Exhibition: Memory of Peru
Battle of the East 2018
Madeenah Tour: Places of Unlearning
Music Festival: NNF First Anniversary
Shinsawi: Doggie Meetup
COMMUNITY COLLAB. 03

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

The Suzuki Jimny has always had a cult following so when a completely new redesigned Jimny was released, it instantly became a huge hit. I’ve personally been waiting for it to arrive to Kuwait for months now just so I could check it out in person and possibly take one for a test drive. So, when I found out Suzuki launched the new Jimny in Kuwait yesterday, I headed to their showroom to check it out.

I passed by in the evening and they only had one Jimny on display out back behind the showroom. The showroom was fairly busy and I barely could get the attention of a salesman to ask him a few questions about the car. Everybody there was there for the Jimny and they were all buying it. When I left last night all the automatic gearbox versions of the car had been sold out and they had a few manual versions left in limited colors. I don’t think the Suzuki dealership in Kuwait ever experienced this much foot traffic or sold that many cars in a day. That probably has to do with the fact the new Jimny looks great and is very affordable. KD5,200 will get you the manual version while KD5,500 will get you the automatic.

So if you’re hoping to get a new Jimny or at least check it out in person, you’re going to have to pass by their showroom asap before they completely sell out. [Link]

Luna & Beau is the hottest new pet store in Kuwait and I’ll be posting about them soon. But, for now, I do want to post about their Halloween party tonight. I passed by last night and saw them setting things up and it looks like it going to be a lot of fun. So if you have a pet and are looking to do something tonight then consider dropping by Luna & Beau. They’re holding the event in their cafe and its going to run from 7PM to 11PM.

Here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account with more info is @luna_beau

I don’t know why it took so long but we finally have a dedicated cheese shop in Kuwait! La Maison Du Fromage is a new store that just opened up and specializes in everything cheese. Right now they have over 60 different kinds of cheeses but they’re expecting 40 more kinds to arrive soon with the majority not available in supermarkets.

The store is pretty cute but they’re still in their soft launch stage so they’re still stocking up on their products. They will soon have cold cuts, caviar, truffle and truffle oils as well as kitchen tools for cheese. Basically, they’ll be carrying everything you expect a cheese store to carry except for the wine.

La Maison Du Fromage is located in Salmiya near Gia. Their instagram account is @lmdfkw and will be active soon. If you want to check the place out they’re open from 10AM to 10PM and here is their location on [Google Maps]

Golfania is an indoor miniature golf park that’s located in the basement of Discovery Center. They’ve been around for a few years now, but I only tried them out for the first time last night. It’s not a large park but it does offer a bit of fun if you’re in a group or on a date. There are 12 holes in total and depending on how large a group you are, you could zip through them pretty quick. But even if you do end up flying through the course, once you’re done you could head next door to Cosmo for bowling or maybe a game of pool so your trip to Discovery Center would still be worthwhile.

The cost for one round of golf that includes all 12 holes is KD3 per person. It looks a bit lame but we were a group of 4 last night and had a pretty fun time. Here is the location of Discovery Center on [Google Maps]