Search: “sti”

Those of you who follow me on instagram and twitter probably already figured out that I sold my beloved Datsun last week because I bought a Lotus Exige instead. It wasn’t a planned purchase, it just happened, I guess something like an impulse buy but on a grander scale. Last Saturday I went with a friend to check out a 1972 Chevy C10 pickup truck which I was planning to buy. On our way back I had to drop my friend off at a garage when I came across a used car lot that had a yellow Lotus Exige displayed for sale, the same one I had reviewed nearly a year ago. So I sent the Lotus brand manager a message about it and he told me if I had an itch to drive the Exige again, they had the roof off on their current vehicle and I could come in the next morning and take the car out for a couple of days. Who would say no to that?

The next morning I headed straight to the Lotus dealership and picked up the Exige. A few minutes after driving off in the car, I had a huge smile on my face I remembered why I loved it so much when I took it out last year to review. So when the brand manager messaged me back the next day to confirm I would be dropping the car off in the evening, I told him I had fallen in love with it and this time I wasn’t bringing it back. After a couple of days of negotiating on the price over whatsapp, I went back to the dealership and paid for the car. I’m still unsure if I got a good deal or not since I don’t consider myself a great negotiator (Tip: Do NOT tell the dealer you love the car), but I’ve got the car now with no regrets so thats all that matters.

When I originally wrote my review of the Exige last year, I described it as a car not meant for 99.9% of the people and I still stand by that. I actually spent most of that review complaining about the car. It’s extremely quirky to put it nicely with a lot of odd and unorthodox things about it. But, with all the issues I had with the car when I reviewed it, something about it really attracted me to it. I’ve reviewed a lot of amazing cars for the blog but nothing connected with me the way the Exige did. I love sitting inside the small cozy cockpit, I love the way it looks on the outside, I even love how awkward it is to get in and out of and I definitely love recording videos of my friends trying to get out of the car. If the Exige was a person, it would be an awkward introvert and I think thats why I love it.

There are only 3 Exige’s in Kuwait at the moment, my midnight blue one, a white one and a yellow one so it’s a pretty rare car and I feel special. But, I’m now curious to see what that means to the cost and availability of parts, supposedly service costs is similar to Lexus which is great, but I didn’t ask about the parts since I didn’t want to freak out and change my mind about buying the car. Speaking of parts, there is a pretty active online community of aftermarket parts and I’ve already got my eye on some carbon fiber body panels and other upgrades, but the first thing I want to modify on the car is the license plates. For some reason Alghanim (the dealer) installed square ones on the car but I think the wider rectangular ones would look so much nicer on it. So if anyone knows what the process is for swapping the square plates for the rectangular ones is, please let me know!

Barba is a new place that recently opened up in Shuwaikh by Amr Alrefai, the same guy behind Solo Pizza as well as his wife and brother. I love the space which was a warehouse that was converted into the restaurant so you have really high ceilings and lots of space which they’ve filled up with long communal tables. The concept of the restaurant is also interesting, mostly because of the different things going on throughout the week. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, this is the current schedule they have:

Monday: Pasta Night with Susanna (walk-in)
Tuesday: Pizza Party (walk-in)
Wednesday: Pizza Party (walk-in)
Thursday: Guest Chefs (booking)
Friday: Smokey Fridays (BBQ)
Saturday: Currently closed but they’ll open for brunch soon
Sunday: Closed for private events

This Thursday for example their guest chef is Faisal AlNashmi, the guy behind Street and Table Otto so should be an interesting menu. This past Friday was BBQ Chicken night and this upcoming Friday supposedly will be filled with lots of grilled meat. So I really like the fact how there is always something taking place.

Currently Barba is in it’s soft launch phase, so their opening hours are from 7PM to 10PM. They’re located in Shuwaikh in the same building as ARABICA and Healthy Feast but in the back (take the side alleyway). Here is the location on [Google Maps] and you can also follow them on instagram @lets.barba

By now most of you have probably watched the video of the maid falling from the seventh floor apartment while her employer snapchatted the whole incident instead of trying to help her. If you haven’t watched the video then good, don’t watch it, you don’t need trauma in your life. The good news is that according to Kuwait Times, the woman who filmed the incident is now being held and will be prosecuted:

Police have detained a woman for filming her Ethiopian maid falling from the seventh floor in an apparent suicide attempt without trying to rescue her, media and a rights group said yesterday. The Kuwaiti woman filmed her maid land on a metal awning and survive, then posted the incident on social media. The criminal investigation police referred the employer to the prosecution over failing to help the victim. The Kuwait Society for Human Rights yesterday called on the authorities to investigate the case and refer it to court.

…

According to attorney Nouf Al-Ruwaih, videoing the incident itself is not a crime, but he said the employer could be charged with negligence and failure to offer help. Investigations are currently ongoing to determine whether the case is a suicide attempt, an accident that happened while the maid was working, or a case of attempted homicide and libel. “The law says that any person who fails to help someone else who poses a grave danger to himself or his possessions will be punished with a maximum three months in jail and/or fine,” Ruwaih said. [Source]

Sadly, the maximum sentence is just three months in jail and I doubt she’ll get that.

The Origami House is a project by AGi Architects whom I’ve posted about a number of times before. This home is currently featured in this month’s issue of the popular Wallpaper* magazine and is currently the top story on their main page. It’s a house located in Abdulla Al-Salem designed by AGi for a discreet couple who wanted complete privacy but also wanted to distinguish their house within the neighborhood. Wallpaper* have a full writeup on this project as well as some photos so check it out [Here]

Thanks Sulaiman

Next week would have been my one year anniversary with the 240z but yesterday, I sold the car. I didn’t want to sell it, but I’m getting another car and it just wouldn’t have made sense to own three cars. The night before I sold the car, I took it out for one last drive and it was just so sad. I felt like I was giving away my dog. Not sure why I was being very sentimental since I had the car for only a year. I think was because I was driving it everyday and had spent so many late nights at my mechanic making her a daily drivable car.

Luckily a good friend of mine who is a car nut bought the Datsun from me so I’ll still get to see it. I’m actually looking forward to seeing what he’ll do with it since he’s restored other old cars before and my Datsun could use a bit more TLC from someone like him. Watching him drive off with the car though was still a pretty sad moment.

So no more Datsun, it was fun while it lasted.

Someone suggested I put together a list of all the local apps I use so I’ve listed them below. Any local app I should be using which isn’t on the list? Let me know!

NBK: They’re my bank and so I don’t have an option except to use their app but it’s actually a pretty good one. Quick to login with just my fingerprint, the app looks good and I can perform all my banking from within it. The only thing I can’t do is add new beneficiaries for money transfers. I still need to login to their website and add it from there the old fashioned way.

Talabat: Not a big fan of talabat, not a big fan of their app either. I literally have it installed and use it just so I could order from CHKN. That’s it.

Carriage: Although they charge a KD1 delivery charge, it’s the only way to order from some of my favorite places like JOA and DOH! Plus you can track the status of your order and watch the delivery guy get lost on your way to your house via GPS tracking.

MyFatoorah: I use this app to invoice clients and sometimes friends. Easier than having people add me as a beneficiary to their bank account, they can just transfer money to me by paying me with Knet.

Xcite: I don’t use the app to shop from, but more as tool whenever I am trying to find out the price of an item locally.

4Sale: Worst app design but also the only way to access the best classifieds website in Kuwait. I tend to just use it to flip through the cars category always looking for something interesting on sale.

Klean: It’s a laundry service app but they also clean sneakers so I only tend to use this app when I need my sneakers cleaned.

Alive Yoga: Since I’m a member at Alive, I use the app to check the schedule of classes and to sign up. It’s pretty good plus once you sign up, the app can add your class to your phone calendar so you don’t forget.

Other Notable Mentions:

SnappCard: Used to be one of my favorite apps but after their last update, they now force you to review your previous order before you can use the app again. Imagine if Talabat did this, forced you to review a restaurant every time after placing an order and not allowing you to use the app until you do. I deleted the app obviously.

Burgan Bank: Also my bank, terrible app, looks like something from the 90s. Very limited with what I can do in the app but thankfully they recently added fingerprint login and so one positive thing about it.

Go Tap: I used to use this app to buy iTunes cards from before I connected my iTunes account directly to my US credit card.

iBadala: A phone directory app, rarely use it anymore since I just google things but it’s still on my phone just in case.

Herafy is a small clays and crafts store thats located in Al-Rai. Recently they moved to a new location and I found it by accident while looking for something else and decided to check it out. It’s a small store, nothing close in size say to Mogahwi, but they are very specialized and most importantly, they offer a ton of classes from sculpting and painting to sewing and soap making. Just a bunch of random interesting classes you wouldn’t find anywhere else.

So if you’re interested in learning something new or picking up a new hobby, here is the store location on [Google Maps] and you can check out all their classes and workshops on their website [Here]

This is just a quick post on what has to be the best Nintendo Switch case you can buy at the moment. One of the best things about the Nintendo Switch is you can take it with you when you leave your house so it’s important you have a really good case for it. I recently purchased the CitySlicker case by WaterField and I love it. I’ve been buying WaterField products since 2001 and I always highly recommend all their products. They make the best laptop sleeves on the market and the only ones I use for my laptops and iPads. Their build quality is so good that the items I had purchased from them back in 2001 still look new today.

The CitySlicker (pictured on top) can fit the Switch with the JoyCon’s attached, has slots to hold 5 games, and a zipped up pouch that can hold your earphones and charging cable. It’s got sufficient padding as well so you can toss the case around with the Switch inside and not have to worry about it. The CitySlicker comes in four colors but I went with the straightforward black mostly because I don’t want it sticking out when I leave the Switch in my car.

The price starts at $79 and goes up depending on what attachments you get for it. I got it with no attachments since I wanted it to be as compact as possible. I preordered the case back in February so they were able to ship it to me when they launched it 10 days ago, but now they’re backordered and the earliest they’ll be able to ship the case to you is by April 21. So if you’re looking for a great Switch case, hurry up and order one before their delivery date gets pushed back even further. [Link]

Yusuf Al-Jaddah, a sowt singer I encountered during a performance in a private suite at the Jumeirah five-star hotel in Kuwait City in May 2014, pointed out the huge changes that have occurred in the background, even as the tradition of communal performance has persisted:

“Years back I used to sing exactly at this spot with musicians from Bahrain. We were sitting in the sand and this hotel was not even built.”

Kuwait was musically quite a revelation to me. Despite rapid modernizations across the Gulf, which sees traditional performances occurring nowadays in hotels as well as diwānīyahs, traditional music is still performed, at least in private gatherings, on a weekly basis. Although at first the apparent absence of any older buildings in the city centre would imply complete modernisation of the culture, it is clear that musical culture is still very vibrant.

A friend sent me a link to an article from the Qatar Digital Library on traditional music in Kuwait. Honestly, only reason I’m sharing it is because I loved the first song on the playlist called “كاسين ويسكي” or two glasses of whisky in English. The song was written before the alcohol ban in Kuwait and was composed and sang by Kuwaiti musician Abdullah Al-Fadala in Bahrain in the 1950s. You can check out the article [Here] and listen to the whisky song as well as other songs they’ve selected below.

By the way, the Qatar Digital Archive is kinda similar to something I was proposing back in January that we need in Kuwait like urgently. I mean Qatar have digitized and archived Kuwaiti history while we haven’t even done that for ourselves yet alone for our neighboring countries.

Lots of events this weekend but due to the weather, some of the outdoor ones might get canceled, so double check with the organizer before heading out to make sure they’re still on. Below is this weekends list of events:

Thursday
Exhibition: Third Identity
Exhibition: Road to Black
Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, and the Requiem Mass
Amir’s Cup Show Jumping Championship
Tefaseel Design Exhibition
Organic hydroponics and sustainability: Truth or Fiction?

Friday
Tefaseel Design Exhibition
Amir’s Cup Show Jumping Championship
PantryBee Presents Farm to Table Sunset Dinner
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Macro Photography in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup
Voices & Verses
Reborn Carnival

Saturday
Amir’s Cup Show Jumping Championship
Yoga with the 3
Karate Kenshinkan & Kung-Fu Sanda
Bait Al Arab: Kuwait State Stud
Annual Worldwide InstaMeet
Family Day at Amricani
Murouj Market
Footwork Workshop with Cheerito (Russia)
JAM JAM – Open Acoustic Jam Session
Gardening at The Secret Garden
Reborn Carnival
Volleyball Tournament

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.

As you know by now, Beauty and the Beast was pulled from movie theaters on Monday by request of the Ministry of Information due to further censorship. Supposedly MOI knew that a “gay moment” existed, but when they originally watched the film, they didn’t find the scene and assumed the theaters were showing a different version of the movie. Once the film was released and social media caught on to the fact that the controversial scene wasn’t cut, MOI contacted the theaters and had them pull the movie so they could remove the scene in question and re-release it. If that alone wasn’t enough drama, Cinescape last night announced that it will now no longer be playing the movie “in line with the company’s responsibilities and principles towards young customers”. Below is Cinescape’s full message:

Dear Valued Customers,
We would like to inform you that Kuwait National Cinema Company decided to

Stop showing Beauty and the Beast in line with our values as responsibility toward our young viewers

I’ve contacted Grand Cinemas to see if they will be pulling the movie as well, but as of this post I haven’t heard back from them yet. Who would have ever have thought a Disney film could ever cause this much controversy.

Update: Grand Cinemas got back to me telling me the movie is now banned in Kuwait.

You’ve probably heard about this in the news but in case you haven’t, the U.S. issued a temporary ban on electronics in cabins on some Middle Eastern flights to the U.S. It’s a temporary 96 hour ban at the moment but it still sucks if you were planning on traveling to the U.S. in the next few days and like me, take all your on inflight entertainment with you. Oddly though, according to AP, the ban includes Kuwait.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press the ban will apply to nonstop flights to the U.S. from 10 international airports serving the cities of Cairo in Egypt; Amman in Jordan; Kuwait City in Kuwait; Casablanca in Morocco; Doha in Qatar; Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Istanbul in Turkey; and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The ban was indefinite, said the official.

I wasn’t aware of any direct flights to the U.S. from Kuwait. United Airlines stopped flying out from Kuwait and Kuwait Airways now stops in Ireland for security reasons on the way to New York. Is there a flight that is direct to the U.S. from Kuwait that I am not aware of?

Update: It might be a temporary ban, it might not be, everyone seems to be confused

Update2: Kuwait Airways will begin flying non-stop to New York starting from Sunday, March 26.

@PK_Spark is the 19 year old parkour guy I posted about awhile back, where him and his friends snuck onto the roof of Hamra Tower and started sliding around. Around 10 days ago, he sent me a link to his latest video where he snuck into the new NBK tower thats being constructed across the street from Hamra Tower where he climbed up to the highest crane. I was going to post the video on the blog but then it suddenly disappeared along with all his social media accounts. I thought the video might have gotten him in trouble and turns out that was the case. A few days later, his social media accounts came back online and he posted the following message on his instagram:

I got arrested by the CID ( criminal investigation department) and they throw me in jail, all that was because of my crane climbs and rooftops stuff at least m free right now but the bad news is no more rooftops till I leave this country.

I learned something from this experience ( freedom is expensive ) don’t lose it.

It’s messed up that he got arrested, but it shouldn’t be a surprise since he was basically trespassing onto private property and then sharing video of it. In any case he’s back out now, just no more dangerous rooftops stunts for awhile which is a good thing. If you want to see some of his videos, you can check out his instagram account @pk_spark or his YouTube channel [Here]

Last week I posted that the Habitat Museum at Al Shaheed Park was now open but I only managed to pass by it this past weekend. I left so impressed, that here I am posting about the museum again a week later.

The museum showcases the unique beauty of Kuwait’s plants and animal life by taking visitors on a journey through the local ecosystem. When you first enter the premises you need to pick up your audio guide as well as a round disc that contains a plant seed. This disc can then be used in various parts of the museum to activate screens and interact with the exhibits.

The museum isn’t that big but I loved everything about it. My favorite part though had to be watching different families and people just walk around interacting with the displays. Its pretty obvious that people in Kuwait are hungry for museums which is why I can’t wait until the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Center opens up end of this year.

Another thing I liked was the fact the museum brings up two important issues, illegal hunting near the wildlife reserves as well as how camping can be very disruptive to the environment. Two very important issues which I’m glad they talk about in their exhibits because it will definitely educate the visitors especially the young ones.

The Habitat Museum is located in the same building as the escalators that take you to the parking lot (the far end one) and right across from the restaurant Table Otto.

The opening hours are:
Monday to Friday: 4PM to 9PM
Saturdays: 12PM to 7PM
Sundays: Closed

Entry is free just make sure you have an ID card so you could pick up the audio guide and plant disc. The museum is really worth checking out so pass by.

For more photos of the interior taken by the photographer Niccolò Guasti, click [Here]

After a slight change of plans, the Filipo The Filipino pop-up event is going to take place tonight and tomorrow night. The menu will be comprised of contemporary dishes that have been injected with some Filipino soul, so should be interesting experience. The event will be taking place in a warehouse in Shuwaikh so if you want more details, click [Here]