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Last year I bought a vintage map of Kuwait and although there is no date on it, I think it’s from the early 70s because there is a Hilton ad on it and Hilton opened in 1969. You can view a photo of the map on my twitter and right now I’m trying to scan it so I can make a proper copy available online. The only issue is it’s taking too long to scan one section at a time with my small scanner and then stitch it together in Photoshop.

Anyway, one thing that caught my attention was an ad for Golden Beach Hotel. Not to be confused with the Golden Beach Casino that was located in Salmiya, Golden Beach Hotel was located where the National Assembly building is today. I hadn’t heard of the hotel and couldn’t find any information online so I left it at that. But then yesterday, while trying to dig up information in one of my books on the Spring Continental Hotel that was located in the Dalal Complex in Salmiya (where Video Club used to be), I found a photo and information on the Golden Beach Hotel. So here is the obscure info that nobody requested:

Golden Beach Hotel
Telephone: 39521
Location: Arabian Gulf Street, Kuwait

Rooms: 44
Baths: 44

Single Occupancy Prices
R/Bfst K.D. 5.000
Half K.D. 6.000
Full K.D. 7.000

Double Occupancy
R/Bfst K.D. 9.000
Half K.D. 11.000
Full K.D. 12.000

Breakfast K.D. 0.350 / 0.450
Lunch or Dinner K.D. 0.900

If you want to check out higher-res versions of the images here, they’re also on my twitter account.

Update: So my mum just saw the post and messaged me to tell me she spent a night at the Golden Beach Hotel in December 1972. She was heading to Abadan in Iran from Lebanon to see her aunt and she took the Kuwait Airways flight which transits through Kuwait. When she got to Iran turns out her aunt hadn’t gotten her a visa so they sent her back to Kuwait. Her flight back to Lebanon was the day after so she spent the night at the Golden Beach Hotel.

Once she was back in Lebanon her aunt got her the Iran visa and she headed back again. This time on her way back to Lebanon during her stop over in Kuwait she saw an ad to become a flight attendant for Kuwait Airways and she applied. And that’s how she became a flight attendant. So because of this random post I found out how my mum became a flight attendant.

On Thursday morning I headed to Dubai in my car for the weekend and just got back last night. I had a few things I needed to do on this trip, first thing was to stop at Abu Dhabi since I have a car being restored there and I needed to check on it and take it out for a test drive. Then I needed to head to Dubai because I had some things I needed to install on my car at Arctic Trucks (Mountain Top roll cover and sports bar, and Rival4X4 skid plates). Finally, on my way back I also needed to stop over in Khobar for work.

Kuwait to Dubai is a very doable trip. Its long, and it’s not something I’d do often, but it would be something I’d be willing to do if I needed to get something from Dubai which we don’t have in Kuwait. Like a couch or something, I don’t know, I just like the idea that if I found something in Dubai that I can’t ship to Kuwait or bring back on a plane with me, then I can just drive there pick it up and come back.

So here is everything you need to know in case you want to do the same trip. This also applies to driving to Qatar since you drive by the Qatari border on the way to the UAE one.

Trip Duration
I left my place in Salmiya at around 6AM, and got to my hotel in Abu Dhabi by 6PM Dubai time (5PM Kuwait time). The trip took exactly 11 hours including stopping for breakfast, a few photoshoot stops, and all the border crossings. If you’re heading to Dubai directly just add another hour on to the trip.

Google Maps
Trusting Google Maps will take you on the best route is not the best idea in the world but it’s something we do. At one part of the trip it made me exit the main highway and go through a tiny road where I swear I read a sign that said for use by ARAMCO contractors only. I wasn’t sure if 30 minutes later I’d end up at a security gate and have to turn back, I just hoped I’d end up back on the main road eventually. It did take me back to the main road but this brings up an important thing which is my trip could be different from yours. Yesterday coming back from Khobar Google sent me on a different and nicer road than my last trip back so just be aware of that.

Kuwait to the UAE Borders
I’ve already covered driving through Saudi in my previous post and the same rules apply here again. The Saudi leg of the journey although long actually passed by really quickly. The thing about driving in Saudi is the roads and scenery change very frequently. There isn’t just one straight highway from here to UAE and so the journey feels a lot more interesting since you drive through a variety of terrain and road types. You could be on a highway for 30 minutes, then a back road for 30 minutes, then driving through a coastal town for an hour, then through sand dunes for another hour, etc. The only issue I faced on this trip was the lack of fuel stations.

I think I counted 8 fuel stations that were open from Kuwait to the UAE borders, and that’s including both sides of the highway. This was the only thing that made me anxious on the way because I didn’t know if I’d find a gas station on the road ahead or not. Google Maps isn’t helpful and at one point when I needed fuel I used Google Maps to find one in a village I was driving by and Google Maps took me to a gas station under construction, and then another gas station that turned out to be a garage. So in case you need them, here are some fuel stations where I filled up at:

First stop after the Saudi borders. There is a McDonalds there so you can also have breakfast: https://goo.gl/maps/LFhKgeHkmmekjxUi8

Second station I filled at. This was in a village when I wasn’t sure if I’d find another station on the highway ahead (turns out there was): https://goo.gl/maps/CUh3oL2nteFyhfNx7

This is to where you should fill up instead of the village station I mentioned above: https://goo.gl/maps/k6zDv9PrLGMvf3FL9

For my third stop I used this station. It’s located on the other side of the road but it’s easy to U-turn to and get to. It’s located in a beach town called Salwa and it’s near the Qatar border: https://goo.gl/maps/dbY3HRz4dr7bv9Hq9

Last station before UAE border. You should fill up here before crossing into the UAE. https://goo.gl/maps/U7sdkoJRGd868hMD6

So basically there were around 4 fuel stations on the way to the UAE with the rest all closed down, abandoned or located in villages and towns out of your way.

Qatar
As I mentioned at the start of this post, you need to drive by the Qatar border to get to UAE. At one point you’ll get to a roundabout where if you go straight you get to the Qatar border, or if you turn right you head towards UAE. Because I didn’t cross into Qatar and experience the trip to Doha, I didn’t make this a Qatar guide as well.

UAE Border
Once I got to the UAE border the process was fairly easy at the Saudi side. It was just me and another car crossing at that time. The guy at the window didn’t even take my passport, I had opened my passport to the visa number page and held it out of the window to give it to him and he just looked at the number and typed it out on the computer and handed me a slip. The UAE side of the border was super nice, multiple lanes and looks like a proper border. I had to drive through an X-ray machine first before arriving to passport control. Even though I usually use the eGate when I arrive to Dubai, after giving the border guy my passport he told me I needed to drive around to the immigration building and get my passport stamped there. It wasn’t busy so the process there was also fast, I filled up a paper and had my iris scanned and then got the passport stamped. I got back into my car and then drove through the border. I had to get car insurance before leaving the border, the minimum duration was 2 weeks and it cost 210AED.

UAE Border to Abu Dhabi
As soon as you get into UAE you’re suddenly on a proper 3 lane highway with a speed limit of 160KM/h. The fuel stations on this road are also a lot nicer than Saudi, and the convenience stores and bathrooms at the stations are proper. I stopped at the first one to fill up and get a sandwich and coffee for the remaining leg of the trip. This was actually my least favorite part of the whole trip. It was around 3 hours of driving in a straight line going 160km/h with the exact same scenery. It was super boring.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai Toll Gates
So this is something I was hoping to work out but couldn’t really do it properly. So Abu Dhabi has toll gates on the road called DARB. I couldn’t figure out how to get it working with my Kuwaiti license plates and I need to check and see if I have any tolls so I can pay them before I get at fine. In Dubai they use Salik and I picked up a Salik tag with 100aed on it from a gas station on my way to Dubai. I couldn’t get it set up. Firstly I couldn’t access the Salik website using my phone data (you can’t use the App btw if foreign plates). Then when I did access the website using a shops wifi, it wouldn’t send me the OTP to my phone to verify. Luckily Google Maps has an option to avoid roads with tolls and I used that. Next day I set up Salik with my friends phone number who lives in Dubai and it worked. But it also told him that it would take up to 5 days to activate. They then called him this morning because they needed my car chassis number, he gave them my number and they spoke to me while I was typing this post up. My Salik is now active and any toll gates I passed under while I was in Dubai will now be deducted from my Salik account.

The best option to keep things simple is tell Google Maps not to use roads with tolls.

UAE to Kuwait
On the trip back to Kuwait I stopped in Khobar. I was meant to spend the night there but I ended up arriving quicker than I expected and once my meeting finished I realized I could make it to the Kuwait borders by 6PM (when there would still be some light). On the way back I left Dubai at 6:20AM (so 5:20AM Kuwait time). I headed to Khobar first, took the scenic route and stopped a few times for photos. I got to Khobar at 1:40PM (so 2:40PM Dubai Time). I was done with my meeting by 2:50 and figured if I skipped lunch and stopped for fuel only once I could make it to the Kuwait borders by 6PM. You do not want to drive on Saudi roads in the dark. I crossed the borders by 5:53PM. What sucked was that Google this time took me through a very scenic seaside road back to Kuwait and I couldn’t stop to take pictures because of my schedule.

Cost Breakdown
Here is the cost for the journey that includes my fuel stops and car insurance:

Saudi
138SAR – Saudi car Insurance
78SAR first fuel stop
95SAR second fuel stop
50SAR third fuel stop
53SAR forth fuel stop

UAE
210AED – UAE car Insurance
155AED – fuel stop

on the way back:

UAE
190AED first fuel stop
113AED second fuel stop
145AED third fuel stop
37AED forth fuel stop

Saudi
61SAR first fuel stop
111SAR second fuel stop
65SAR last fuel stop

Conclusion
I liked the trip and I didn’t find it really that exhausting. I’m not sure how many speeding tickets I got on this trip. On the UAE road where the speed limit was 160KM/h, I got flashed twice going 155KM/h. I was on cruise control and Waze was saying 155, and my car speedometer was saying 155 and I still got flashed, but only on by two cameras. I’m hoping those were just average-speed cameras that take photos of every car, I hope. Then in Saudi, the speed limit is mostly 120 so I would drive under 140. I’d pass by 20 cameras with no issues and then one would randomly flash me. No idea whats going on there. But, I did get flashed at one point for going over 140 but that was my mistake since I didn’t have it on cruise control and didn’t notice my speed.

Hopefully this guide is helpful in case you want to make this trip. I might have missed something or not covered a subject so if you have a specific question, let me know in the comments.

Unlike last weekend, this weekend is packed with things to do. As usual, if I missed anything please let me know in the comments:

Thursday
IFK Cinema Night: Cléo de 5 à 7
Palestinian Embroidery Workshop
Concert: The Ayoub Sisters
Shlonik Healing Circle
The Urban Market
Art & Dine – September on My Mind with Bedros Andreas

Friday
Concert: The Ayoub Sisters
The Urban Market
Off The Menu Kids Cooking Class: Dessert Bites
Panto Auditions: Wizard of Oz

Saturday
Pet & Paint!
Yoga with Ahmed Elsayed
Fun & Fitness Kids Class with Basta
Sketchbook Session: Theatre and Identity
Back to School Celebration with Amricani Cultural Centre
Off The Menu Cooking Class: Lebanese Home Cooking
Trash Tag Beach Cleanup
Scientific Center Beach Cleanup
The Urban Market

Activities
Ascend Rock Climbing
Cable Park
Ice Skating at the Winter Games Club
Indoor Karting
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Try Windsurfing
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

Exhibitions
Exhibition: Matter of Material – Sculptures from CAP Collection.
Exhibition: My Name Is Woman – Maha AlAsaker
To Hug by Rita Hassouany

I was going through some articles about Kuwaiti homes on Architectural Digest when one home caught my attention. The house had a giant bronze pumpkin by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in their courtyard. I recognized the pumpkin because I had previously come across photos of them nearly a decade ago when they were being exhibited outside in a garden at a gallery in London (see below).

So random that one of them ended up here in Kuwait. To get an idea on how much these sell for, Yayoi is considered to be the most expensive living female artist at auction and a smaller version of this pumpkin got sold for a million dollars back in 2017.

To check out all the photos from the house, here is a link to the article on Architectural Digest.

Arablit, the magazine of Arabic literature in translation published an article yesterday on how the Kuwaiti English literature landscape has changed in the past 10 years. Accompanying the article, Arablit also shared a list of 10 important Kuwaiti novels (in English) from the last 10 years which included:

Mai al-Nakib’s short-story collection The Hidden Light of Objects (2014)

Saud Alsanousi’s The Bamboo Stalk, translated by Jonathan Wright (2015)

Ismail Fahd Ismail’s short novel The Old Woman and the River, translated by Sophia Vasalou (2019)

Bothayna Al-Essa’s All That I Want to Forget, translated by Michele Henjum (2019)

Layla AlAmmar’s debut novel, The Pact We Made (2019)

Saud Alsanousi’s novel Mama Hissa’s Mice, translated by Sawad Hussain (2020)

Taleb Alrefai’s The Mariner, translated by Russell Harris (2020)

Mai al-Nakib’s debut novel, An Unlasting Home (2022)

Zahra Marwan’s Where Butterflies Fill the Sky: A Story of Immigration, Family, and Finding Home (2022)

Shahd Alshammari’s Head Above Water (2022)

If you want check out the article and the full list of books in detail, here is the link.

If you want to buy any of the books, the links above lead straight to Amazon although most of the books are also available locally.

Thanks Zaydoun

The new iPhone 14 and 14 Pro will be available to pre-order on the Apple website in a few days and if you don’t want to wait for it to officially launch in Kuwait, you can pre-order the phone from Apple directly.

There are two things you need, a US forwarding address like Shop&Ship or MyUS, and a US Apple Store account.

US Forwarding Mailbox
This is something you most likely have already, if not you can get an account by visiting myus.com or shopandship.com and signing up for one. When ordering from Apple.com I always prefer to use MyUS due to the fact the mailbox is located in Florida and so all the items you purchase from Apple are tax free. The amount I save on tax I use to pay for shipping. Last year I paid 16KD to ship the phone from my MyUS mailbox to Kuwait using FedEx 1-3 Days Priority. If you don’t mind waiting there are cheaper shipping options available as well.

US Apple Store Account
Unlike what a lot of people think, you don’t need to have a US credit card to order from the Apple.com website. I have an account that uses my Shop&Ship address as my billing address and my NBK credit card for payments, and I have no issues purchasing laptops and phones from the website and shipping them to my MyUS address. I’ve been doing this for years now and just a couple of weeks back ordered the new MacBook Air that way.

Is it cheaper to buy the iPhone from the US? Yeah, it is. Depending on which iPhone you’re thinking of buying it could be a bit cheaper (and not really worth it) or a lot cheaper. Not only that but you could actually make a bit of money buying an iPhone by reselling it in Kuwait for more than what you paid for since demand, in the beginning, will be a lot higher than availability.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments.

Last week Saudi Arabia announced that any GCC resident can now apply for an tourism eVisa as long as you meet some basic requirements. I got in touch with their eVisa team for more information and here is everything you need to know.

To apply for an E-Visa you need to do it through the following website: ⁦‪visa.mofa.gov.sa/Account/Loginindividuals

Once you visit that link click on the letter “E” on the top left to go to the English page. Then on the right column under “Login Of Individual Visitors To Saudi Arabia” click on Register to create an account.

After creating an account log in and then click on “Add A New Application” on the right side. Click Agree a couple of time and you’ll eventually reach the Visa application form. Make sure for “Visa Type” you select Tourism and then under “Saudi Mission in” you select “Kuwait”.

Other than that it should be fairly simple. There are some requirements which are:

• Your residency visa has to be valid of at least 3 months
• Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months
• Resident’s occupation should be among the eligible occupations listed on the portal (more on that below)
• For those under the age of 18, one of the parents must apply first and must be present with them
• First-degree relatives (Parents, husband, wife, and children) can get the visa online, as long as they are coming together with the one holding the residency

‎Regarding the resident’s occupation, it’s too long a list to share but everything I thought of seems to be listed including salesman, waiter or call center operator. So it’s not just managerial positions. The only occupation I couldn’t find was “Driver” but even that might possibly be listed under a different name.

Here are some visa details they also shared with me:

• Cost is 300SAR along with health insurance fees
• Multiple or single entry, this is not an option for the applicant, authorities (MOFA) will decide on a case by case basis
• Validity of 1 year for the multiple entries, and 3 months for the single entry
• Length of stay is 90 days for the multiple entry, and 30 days for the single entry
• The new regulation took effect from the 1st of September 2022
• You will receive the visa within 48 hours at the registered email
• You can use the tourist visa to perform Umrah, but not during the Hajj season

This visa is also valid for land, port or air entry.

Finally, they also shared the below requirements for entering Saudi as a tourist:

• The tourist visa includes medical insurance covering infection with the Coronavirus
• If you are going to drive, you must hold a valid international driving license or a license issued from a GCC country, and the car must have insurance. Insurance can be done at the border on the Saudi side. For more information on traveling by car check out my previous guide here.

And that’s pretty much it. If you have any questions let me know in the comments and I’ll try to answer it.

A Disney store is opening in Avenues Phase 4. I was aware Alshaya had gotten the Disney brand for the MENA region but supposedly just for shop-in-shops where they would open small Disney stores inside existing stores like Debenhams and Mothercare. But, based on the hoarding, looks like they’ll also be opening a standalone store.

Another weekend with very little going on. As usual, if I missed anything please let me know in the comments:

Thursday
IFK Cinema Night: Pierrot le Fou
Workshop: Cyber Fun!

Friday
SIK: Potluck-Get-To-Know-Us-Lunch Lunch!
Workshop: Polymer Clay

Saturday
Full Moon Yoga
Art N Dine: Oriental Abstracts

Activities
Ascend Rock Climbing
Cable Park
Ice Skating at the Winter Games Club
Indoor Karting
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Try Windsurfing
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

Exhibitions
Exhibition: Matter of Material – Sculptures from CAP Collection.
Exhibition: My Name Is Woman – Maha AlAsaker
Exhibition: ASEAN Textile Exhibition & Craft Workshops

I’ve been putting together a list of shows that you should watch (or not watch) and because I didn’t post it sooner the list is fairly huge. So I’m going to go through it fairly quick:

Cheer – On Netflix, a reality show about cheerleaders, I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought it would. Got totally sucked in just 5 minutes into the first episode.

Reacher – On Prime Video, it was fun to watch.

Severance – One of the most beautiful shows in a very long time or maybe even ever. It’s also starring Adam Scott, Christopher Walken, Patricia Arquette and John Turturro whom I all love. But, I did find the show very slow moving but it’s still worth watching. It’s on AppleTV+/

Julia – I wasn’t expecting much and was caught off guard. A great show, really entertaining, it’s based on a true story and it’s starring Niles and Lilith from Fraiser.

We Own This City – If you’re a fan of The Wire you’re gonna love this. Like The Wire, this series is also based in Baltimore and stars a ton of actors from The Wire (but now 20 years older). One of my favorite shows on TV and it’s on HBO.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Although I’m a Star Trek fan I couldn’t really get into this. It’s on Paramount+.

Obi-Wan Kenobi – I’ve been loving all these Star Wars shows and just like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, this one was great. It’s on Disney+.

The Essex Serpent – Started watching it because of Claire Danes but quickly got bored of it. It’s on AppleTV+.

Physical – I had bookmarked this show ages ago but only started watching it recently. It was really really good and nothing at all like I expected it to be. Definitly recommend watching it. It’s on AppleTV+

The Baby – It’s on AppleTV+, I got bored by episode 3.

The Terminal List – The series stars Chris Pratt which is the biggest issue with it. It was fun to watch but I’m so used to Chris being the goofy character on Parks & Rec that it feels really weird watching him try and be this serious angry maniac. It’s on Prime Video.

Industry – What Euphoria is to Sex and the City, Industry is to Billions. Would definitely recommend it. It’s on HBO.

The Patient – Just started watching this new show starring Steve Carell. I’m two episodes in and it seems interesting but I have a feeling I might get bored in a couple of episodes. It’s on Hulu.

Welcome to Wrexham – Rob McElhenney from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Ryan Reynolds partner up to buy a football team in Wales. This isn’t a joke, it’s actually based on real life. So bizarre. It’s streaming on Hulu.

I Love That for You – Light-hearted comedy, would watch or at least have playing in the background. It’s on Showtime.

City on a Hill – If you can’t tell I’m a huge fan of crime dramas and this show is no exception. Stars Kevin Bacon who is so incredibly good, like one of my favorite actors on TV right now. Season 3 is streaming right now on Showtime and is produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

Pinot is a digital artist that was living in Kuwait up till 2014 and is incredibly talented in pixel art and animation using vintage computers. He gained worldwide fame through the service Vine which back before Twitter acquired it, used to allow users to share six-second-long looping video clips. Eventually a digital agency in New York found out about him and offered him a job so he packed up and left Kuwait with his family to work and live there. Since then he’s gotten even more popular with nearly 400K followers on Instagram and even ended up on an MKBHD episode where he showed Marques how to paint on an old Mac.

His Childish Gambino video that went viral

Sadly back in June he suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. Since then he’s been gradually progressing ever so slowly and eventually was taken off life support since he started breathing by himself. He also started making hand gestures and moving one of his arms and legs and is still slowly improving.

Art for Pinot is an initiative from the Indonesian NFT community to help him by inviting fellow creators to donate their artwork as a form of support. If you’re an artist reading this you can help by donating an artwork. For more information visit bit.ly/ArtforPino

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pinot (@pinot)

If you’re not an artist but still want to help, there is a GoFundMe page.

If you’re just curious and want to check out some of Pinot’s work, his Instagram is @pinot and his twitter (which he posts animations in progress) is also @pinot

If you want to stay updated on his progress, his wife is sharing updates on her Instagram @ditut

It’s been a month since I got my Toyota Hilux and since then I’ve done two Saudi trips and driven over 5,000KM in it. I’ve also started personalizing the car with various upgrades similar to what I did with my FJ Cruiser 12 years ago and my Wrangler before that. But, the difference this time around is that I’ve mostly managed to find everything I needed locally instead of having to ship things in. Here is what I’ve gotten done so far and from where:

Window Tint
The first thing I did was get my windows tinted, I previously used Huper-Optik on my FJ and decided to use the same brand again since I didn’t have any issues with it after 12 years. Motorworks are the dealers for it so went and got my tint done there at their new workshop. They took over the old Mercedes garage on the 4th Ring Road so their place is now HUGE. I dropped the car in the morning and picked it up in the afternoon and it cost me 110KD. Need to actually take one of my other cars back there to get tinted as well now that I think about it.

Paint Protection Film
For PPF I decided to get it done at ProTech Monte-Carlo. To save money I originally went and got it done at another place first, but they didn’t do a good job and had missed some spots so I decided to get it done again at ProTech. This happens when you try to save money, you end up spending more than if you had done it right the first time around. I only got the front of my car done, so full hood, full fenders, front bumper etc. I think I paid around 190KD but that’s because I kept some of the previous PPF from the first place on. ProTech are really the best at details with the aim of making sure you can’t tell there is any protection on the car. I really regret not going there to begin with but oh well.

Wheels
I originally was planning to buy my wheels online but the vast amount of options available was giving me anxiety, especially since you basically have to imagine them on the car. In the end I decided to go local and ended up trying to decide between two brands, EVO Corse (Epic Overland are the dealers) or BRAID (Formula Wheel are the dealers). I decided to go with BRAID and now that they’re on the car I think I made the right decision. The original Hilux wheels were 18″ but I went with 17″ BRAID’s because I prefer having more rubber between the road and the car. I tend to hit or scrape my tires on curbs so more rubber means less chance the wheels are getting scratched. I paid 590KD for 4 wheels.

Tires
I’m a big fan of BF Goodrich and Michelin tires, the same dealer (KAICO) sells both brands and they’re the only two tire brands I use on all 7 of my cars. I decided to get the BFG All-Terrains for the Hilux, the same ones I had on my FJ and they’re great because they’re pretty much puncture proof. The original tires on the car were 265/60/R18, I decided to go larger and so went with 265/70/R17. They’re just over an inch taller and I was able to fit them with no bodywork modification. Other than looking better and raising the car height, my speedometer is now also accurate instead of it being around 10km off. Four tires cost me 420KD.

Lift Kit
To fit the larger tires and also improve the ride quality a bit I had to get a lift kit. There is only one place I trust for any 4×4 work and its ORP. I posted about them 12 years ago when I had the lift kit on my FJ installed there. Back then they had just opened, it was a tiny garage and they were just getting started. Since then they’ve grown a lot and now have a pretty big showroom with a much much larger garage in the back. They are also dealers for multiple 4×4 brands including Old Man Emu, ARB, WARN, Rhino, Mickey Thompson, Fabtech, Total Chaos, Method, TJM, FOX, you name it. They’re so good that people from around the GCC bring their 4x4s to them to get them modified for offroading. They’re so miles ahead of everyone and their customer service is the best there is.

Anyway, because I’m continuing to stick to brands I trust I went with Old Man Emu for my suspension again which is the same brand as what I had on my FJ and my Wrangler before that. ORP was out of stock on my rear shocks so had to get those from Alsayer who are also the dealers. I then needed OME upper control arms and both ORP and Alsayer were out of stock so I checked in Dubai and Riyadh since I had trips to both places. Dubai was also out of stock but I did find one last piece at the OME dealer in Riyadh and so got it from there. In total it cost me around 450KD for everything including installation and alignment (which ORP do in-house). Installation took a day so dropped the car in the morning before work and then picked it up after work.

Sound System
The last thing I did to my Hilux was upgrade the sound system and I decided to go with FOCAL since they made speakers that were plug and plug with my Hilux. I ended up installing the speakers myself which were relatively easy and only took a few hours following a step-by-step video on YouTube. What a difference the speakers made, I can’t believe they sound this good and they didn’t even require me to install a separate amp. I ended up ordering them from a website in South Africa called Angrijeep because the price there was 50% cheaper than anywhere else. They cost me 115KD and another 35KD for shipping plus I ordered a Dynamat Kit from Amazon which cost me 30KD plus 16KD for shipping. I definitely got the best bang for my buck.

Whats Next
I’ve pretty much done everything I wanted to do except I now need to get a roll cover for my tub in the back. That way I can put tools and gear in the back and not worry about them getting stolen or damaged by the weather. I want a Mountain Top EVOm roll cover and the only dealer in our region is Arctic Trucks Dubai, so I’m heading there in a couple of weeks. Since I’m driving all the way there I’m also going to get a few other things including a Mountain Top spots bar and Rival 4×4 skid plates. Once I get those fitted the only thing left will be installing a tailgate control locking kit since right now the tailgate doesn’t lock and unlock with the remote. I think I’ll be done after that, I hope.

If you have any questions or are curious about the availability of any brands locally, let me know in the comments.

Update: Ended up driving to Dubai and getting the Mountain Top EVOm roll cover installed, plus the sports bar and the Rival Underbody guard. Got it all done at Arctic Trucks Dubai.

A few days ago Saudi Arabia announced that any GCC resident can now apply for a tourism eVisa. Previously you could only apply for an eVisa if you were from specific countries, while everyone else had to go through a more complicated process that included getting bank statements and visiting the embassy.

With the new announcement, there are still some requirements like your passport being valid for 6+ months, your residency valid for 3+ months and your occupation should be listed as eligible, but these are just minor things.

Once you get your visa online, you can choose to fly to Saudi or just drive there. Al Khobar and Bahrain are around 3-4 hours after crossing the border while Riyadh is around 5. If you missed my guide to driving to Saudi check it here, or apply for a Saudi visa by going to visitsaudi.com/visa

Below is the list of things you can do this weekend. As usual, if I missed anything please let me know in the comments:

Thursday
Back to School at The Avenues
JACC: Baligh Hamdi, King of Melodies

Friday
Back to School at The Avenues
Owl Be There Painting Experience
JACC: Baligh Hamdi, King of Melodies
Workshop: Polymer Clay

Saturday
Back to School at The Avenues
Gate Mall Expo
Come Play with Us! (Chess, Backgammon and/or Scrabble)
Interactive Children Book Reading
Qesati Storytelling: How it all started
Ceramics Workshop: Qahwa Cups

Activities
Ascend Rock Climbing
Cable Park
Ice Skating at the Winter Games Club
Indoor Karting
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Try Windsurfing
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

Exhibitions
Exhibition: Matter of Material – Sculptures from CAP Collection.
Exhibition: My Name Is Woman – Maha AlAsaker
Exhibition: ASEAN Textile Exhibition & Craft Workshops

@datingkw is a TikTok account where the owner shares her Kuwait Tinder date stories. The account reminded me of some of the previous ones I’ve shared before like Single in the Shires and I Date Kuwait, both of which are no longer active.

There are currently a few stories up, hopefully, she keeps adding more since they’re pretty entertaining. Check out her account here.