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If you’re interested in getting an up-close look at the new 2022 Range Rover, today is the last day they will be on display since they’re pre-production models and so will be sent off to another destination.

There are two cars on display and you can check them out at the Land Rover dealer in Shuwaikh. Here is their location on Google Maps.

After accidentally pre-ordering the wrong iPhone 13 Pro from the online Apple Store, I finally got my hands on the one I wanted from Xcite. I skipped the iPhone 12 Pro last year so was really looking forward to seeing how different the 13 was going to be from my 11 Pro. In short, turns out not that different really.

Full disclosure, I have a long-standing relationship with Xcite who provided me with this iPhone to keep. They’ve been very supportive of the blog from the very early days and they’ve lent or given me a number of items over the years to review, as well as hooking me up with discounts. I’m a huge Xcite fan.

Firstly let’s get the price out of the way since that seems to be the most controversial thing. Purchasing the iPhone locally even from authorized resellers is a lot more expensive than purchasing the phone from the US Apple Store online. When I accidentally ordered the 512GB iPhone 13 Pro online, with shipping to Kuwait and with Apple’s silicon case the total came out to 420KD. In Kuwait, the official retail price of the 512GB is 470KD. That’s 50KD more and doesn’t even include the case which costs around 20KD. So 70KD more expensive than ordering it from the US. But, on the bright side, the prices in Kuwait are cheaper than Europe. I considered buying the iPhone when I was in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago but the prices there were more expensive than in Kuwait. The 512GB was selling for 525KD at the Apple Store which is 55KD more expensive than Kuwait. So Europe > Kuwait > US.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the phone. Going from the iPhone 11 Pro to the 13 Pro I was expecting to see a big jump. Not sure why since my 11 Pro was doing perfectly fine. I didn’t think my phone was slow, the battery was lasting great, the cameras were good, the OLED screen was fantastic and facial recognition was the best thing although I wished it had a fingerprint reader last year. I’ve been using the 13 Pro for around a week now and it still feels like I have my old phone. No major difference, in fact, other than the more boxy shape of the phone and the 3x zoom vs the 2x zoom on my previous phone, I don’t think I’d be able to tell I was using a different phone.

The new iPhone 13 Pro has a much higher screen refresh rate, 120Hz vs 60Hz in the old phone. The higher refresh rate is meant to make scrolling look smoother but in reality, I don’t see any difference. Maybe if I put my old phone next to my new one and scroll down a long website at the same time I’ll notice a difference, but that’s now how I use my phone. I think this is a feature that’s been overhyped, I’m sure it’s good to have, just wouldn’t be something I’d highlight. The notch on top is also meant to be smaller but I only noticed the difference a while ago while taking the side-by-side shots with my old phone. Finally, the camera which improves every year is also meant to be better but again in normal use, I’m not seeing much of a difference. The whole transition to this new phone has been very… subtle.

I think the biggest difference between my new phone and old one is how much louder the speakers are on the new phone. They’re at least 25 to 50% louder and I love that. Another great improvement I noticed just yesterday is the battery life. I was out of the house all day and by 7PM I had 20% battery left and the phone hadn’t been charged all day, not even in the car since I was in my old Alfa.

Really the things that are catching my attention are mostly negative. For example, the new zoom lens on the iPhone is 3x zoom vs 2x on the previous models. I tend to shoot food shots mostly with the 2x zoom since it allows me to avoid shadows but I still haven’t gotten used to the new 3x zoom and thats because I now have to move further away from my food to the point I have to push my chair back to be able to fit my subject onto the phone. 3x is better than 2x most of the time, so I just need to get used to it. Another issue I have with the phone is the magnetic back. I’ve been using a magnet to mount my phones in the car for years. It’s super practical, you just put this very thin metal between your phone and phone cover, and then it just snaps onto the magnetic phone mount that came with it. It makes removing and mounting your phone super easy. The only issue is you can’t use the wireless charging feature because of the metal plate. Starting with last year’s iPhones, Apple placed magnets inside the phone to use with various accessories like phone covers and magnetic wireless chargers. I was hoping this would mean I would no longer have to place the metal plate behind my iPhone but turns out I still have to. Although the iPhone can attach to my car mount without a metal plate now, it’s not strong enough to hold it on rough roads and so my phone would keep falling.

OK, I’ve realized my post is starting to sound negative but I’m not trying to be. The new iPhone is great, it’s better than my 11 Pro in every way and will be better than any older iPhone. But, if you’re expecting a big jump going up from the 11 Pro or the 12 Pro, you’re going to be disappointed. When friends have been asking me if they should upgrade or not I’ve only been telling people with the iPhone X or older phones to get the new one. If you’re on the 11 or 12 Pro you don’t really need to make the jump. The iPhones are so good they can easily hold you for a few years without really losing out on much.

If you’re interested in getting a new iPhone, they’re pretty hard to come by since they’re in high demand. Xcite have a few of the iPhone 13 models in stock as of this post and you can check them all out on their website.

Assima Mall, the new mall located in the city right across from Solo Pizza and Kipco Tower is now open. Even though the mall is open, the majority of the stores are still under construction and haven’t opened up, but it’s still worth visiting and checking out because it’s such a nice-looking space.

Here is a list of places that are currently open. I might have missed a few but the list should still give you an idea of what to expect if you visit:

Aeropostale
Aldo
Atyab Al Marshoud
Bershka
Beverly Hills Polo Club
Boggi
Calvin Klein Jeans
Charles & Keith
Explorers Base
Faces
Grey Fashion
Hush Puppies
Ikea
Intersport
Jysk
Kiko
L’Occitane
Lakeland
LC Waikiki
Levi’s
Nespresso
Paul
Pull & Bear
Rituals
Riva
Rullart
Sephora
Sketchers
Stradivarius
Sun Glass Hut
Super Dry
Swims
The North Face
Tiramixu
Toby’s Estate
Tommy Hilfiger
Zara Home
Zara

The parking is also open so it shouldn’t be an issue finding a place to park. If you want to pass by and check the mall out, here is their location on Google Maps.

Back in June 2019, I purchased a blue 1972 Datsun 240z (it’s not blue anymore). It was my second 240z since I sold my first one and regretted it, so I bought another one. The car wasn’t in the best of condition so in October 2019 I dropped it off at a garage to get it fully restored. The project was estimated to take around 5 months, 3 months for bodywork, and then 2 months to put everything back together again. That didn’t happen, instead, the project ended up taking over 2 years to complete! 27 months to be exact and last week I finally got my car although still not 100% complete with a bunch of things that I still need to sort out.

Photo I took when I first found the car

So where did things go wrong? Everywhere really, issues popped up every step of the way. I had issues with the body shop, the mechanic, the electrician, with parts I ordered, and then to top it off Covid hit and slowed everything down considerably. Generally speaking, everyone was super slow or very sloppy and I had to and still am double-checking all the work that was done myself. When we first started stripping the paint away from the car we spotted issues that weren’t noticeable before and so that took longer than expected. Thankfully the body shop guys were chill about it but they were also very slow, and with Covid lockdowns and curfews, it brought the work down to a stand still a number of times. Then I had issues with the mechanic who a friend had recommended and that guy’s work turned out to be really clumsy. I brought in an electrician that specializes in Datsuns to wire the car back up and his work also turned out to be very rushed. So now I’m taking note of any issues I spot so I can get them sorted.

I also ran into issues with some upgrades I had for the car. Since I wanted this car to be a daily driver, I upgraded the engine with a modern electronic fuel injection system (FAST EFI), I installed AC and I upgraded the brakes to much more powerful Wilwood’s. The problem is nobody I dealt with had fitted a similar electronic system into a 240z before and I couldn’t find someone who did. So I had to learn everything about it and install and set things up myself.

The previous sentence really summarizes the whole experience. There was no way the car would have been done the way I wanted it to be done if I wasn’t very knowledgeable in the car or researched and learned so much about how things work. When I picked up the car last week for example I barely got it home. Actually, I only made it home with the help of a tow truck since the car switched off on my way home after misfiring and running terribly. After getting home and googling the car symptoms, I realized I might have a problem with the spark plugs so I checked them. Turned out the plugs weren’t screwed in properly, were the wrong size, and were carbon-fouled (you can see how black they are in the photo above). I had a new set of correct plugs that I had previously purchased and after installing them the car started and ran perfectly.

I even ran into issues financially with the car even though that was under my control. When I first started the project I wanted the total thing to cost me KD10,000 including the cost of the car (I bought the car for KD2,750). When I started the project I created an Excel file to track all the expenses and late last year I realized I was going to exceed my budget by a pretty good chunk. The car has to date cost me KD13,800 including the car purchase price. I really didn’t want to pay this much yet it was all my own doing since I kept wanting more and more things.

While thinking about this post one question that popped into my mind is if I’d recommend a full restoration to anyone. I was going to say no at first but that really isn’t fair. I currently actually have another classic that’s being restored right now, a 1980 Toyota FJ40 (the green one above). But, I chose to restore it in the UAE and not here. There is a garage based in Abu Dhabi called Classic Drive (@fj40uae) that specializes in restoring old FJ40’s and Landcruiser 60’s. So far they seem to be doing a great job with the car and moving at a fairly quick pace although they are also behind schedule. All the parts they’re using to build the car are either brand new or restored back to new condition so I’ll basically be getting an FJ40 that looks like it rolled out of the dealer today. So what I will say is this. If you are thinking of restoring a car know that it is going to be a big project and there will be things for you to do as well once it’s done. You need to really love cars, understand them and be patient with them. I know of a lot of people who had their cars restored only to sell them right after since they didn’t want to deal with sorting out the issues that would pop up. It also doesn’t help since we don’t have that many if any specialized garages for classic cars here.

And that’s where I am with the car right now. I’ve been driving it daily since I got it and loving it. Now I just need to finish going through the to-do list and sort all the issues out as they pop up. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments.

Back in July of last year, Adidas took over the Café Coco location in Avenues Phase 3 and a few days ago, the store finally opened up. The new location is actually a ground floor extension to the pre-existing Adidas store that was located upstairs in the SoKu area of Avenues. A lot of people didn’t know there was an Adidas there because it was tucked away, so this new extension right on the main strip provides a lot more exposure.

The ground floor space with the large upstairs area now makes it the largest Adidas store in Kuwait by far. If you want to pass by, it’s right across from Harvey Nichols.

ARC Studio in collaboration with Soroptimist Kuwait are hosting a 3-day self-defense course for women.

Soroptimist works to educate, empower, and enable women. They have also been working to eliminate violence against women and girls. This self-defense course is complimentary and will take place on November 18, 19, and 20th.

If you’re interested in sighning up, click here for more info.

The Saracen Race is an obstacle race consisting of a 5KM run with a combination of various obstacles like monkey bars and climbing walls. This year’s Saracen Race is going to be held on December 10th and take place on Green Island.

Registration for the race is currently open and costs 25 KD. If you’re interested in signing up or want more information, click here.

The 1976 movie “The Message” is one of the classics currently playing at Cinescape’s 1954 movie theater. What not a lot of people know is that the star of the film, Anthony Quinn came to Kuwait back then because of the movie. Kuwait, Libya and Morocco had originally promised to support the making of the film financially, but when it was rejected by the Muslim World League in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait still kept its financial support which is why I think the press conference was held here.

Above is a short clip from the conference which starts with Anthony Quinn and then is followed by the director Moustapha Akkad. If someone knows where I can find the full video, let me know.

Sitting two seats down to the left of Anthony Quinn is also Farouq Abdul-Aziz, the creator and host of the Kuwait Television cultural show “Cine Club” which aired from 1977 to 1992. According to a recent interview I found with Farouq, turns out he was later hired to document the making of Anthony Quinn’s movie “Lion of the Desert“. You can watch a short clip from that interview above.

And completely random but related, I just found out while researching the info above that Farouq was also responsible for the Kuwait scenes in Ron Fricke’s award-winning movie documentary “Baraka”. He had researched and produced those scenes which you can view above. If you haven’t watched “Baraka” or the follow up film “Samsara“, then you’re missing out.

You’ve probably seen the ads on the roads for Drops, they’re a grocery store app where you order your items from and they’d deliver them to you. There are a bunch of other grocery store delivery apps but I was attracted to Drops for the simplicity which is why I’ve been using them.

I generally used to love grocery shopping in person but that was mostly when Sultan Center Shaab was open. The place was never too busy and it was always a good calming experience shopping there. Once that location shut down I never really got used to shopping at another supermarket and covid after that just made things worse. I live next to Lulu in Salmiya but that place is so overcrowded and tight, it’s never a chill experience shopping there. The old Sultan Center in Salmiya on the other hand looks great with their new redesigned interior but somehow managed to make the checkout process an even worse experience than before. I’ve stopped shopping there completely because of the checkout layout which is chaotic, squeezed and so old-fashioned. They really should have installed some self-checkout counters at least, it’s 2021! Or at least, at the very least set up a single queue multiple counters layout.

When vacationing in Europe a couple of weeks back I barely dealt with any cashiers, most places I shopped in were self-checkout and a lot of places now had RFID baskets where you just place your items next to the checkout screen and the machine prices everything in it. Super convenient.

Anyway back to Drops. I’ve used them a few times and I like them. Unlike some other apps, with Drops you don’t pick a supermarket and then shop for items. Instead, you treat Drops as a large supermarket and not just a delivery platform. You can shop either by category, brand, or just search for the specific items directly and add it to your cart. You can also create various “wishlists” of items you usually order to make it easier to add the next time. I’ve used them a bunch of times and the items generally arrive within 2 hours. The first time it took longer than 2 hours and they credited my account back with the delivery charge. All the items arrive in Drops branded boxes or bags and the delivery guy has a small trolly so you can order boxes of water for example and not feel guilty about the delivery guy having to carry them.

The worst thing about Drops though is their tracking system is shit. All my orders that were already delivered still showing as “Being Prepared”. When the item goes out for delivery you can’t tell nor can you track the driver even though these features are built into the app, they just never progress past the “Being Prepared” stage.

The prices of the items on Drops are similar to what I pay when I go to the supermarket myself. The only difference is I now pay 1KD to have them deliver the items which really isn’t that bad considering how much time they save me as well as having them deliver the heavy boxes of water instead of me having to carry them up from my car in multiple trips.

If you want to try them out they’re on instagram @dropskuwait and you can download the app from the Apple and Android app stores.

A bunch of interesting events happening this weekend. Murouj was meant to also have a market this weekend but they had to postpone. I personally signed up for the classic car open track on Saturday although not sure how much actual racing I’ll be doing in my Alfa. All Kuwait Motor Town events are open for the public to come and watch. Check out all the events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Melemele Karaoke Halloween Weekend
Skateboarding: Halloween Huckjam
Kuwait Motor Town: Drag Open Day – Roll Race
Kuwait Motor Town: Car Open Track Day
Live Painting/Sculpting Night
House of Evil Drive In Movie

Friday
Melemele Karaoke Halloween Weekend
Sailing: Friday Morning Race
Trashtag Bneid Al Qar Beach Clean Up
Kuwait Motor Town: Motorcycle Open Track Day
Kuwait Motor Town: Car Open Track Day
Sunrise Ashtanga
House of Evil Drive In Movie
C Club 5K Charity Run
Persian/Arabian Music Night

Saturday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Grand Mosque Tour
Melemele Karaoke Halloween Weekend
Sailing: Saturday Sunset Cruising
Gulf Bank Breast Cancer Awareness Walkathon
Flying Start Triathlon
Kuwait Motor Town: Race Car Open Track Day
Kuwait Motor Town: Classic Car Open Track Day
Afro Night at Curiocity
House of Evil Drive In Movie
Exhibition: Fajer AlWugayan

As usual, if I’ve missed an event, let me know in the comments below.

I got back to Kuwait late last night and wanted to share some info on what you need or don’t need to do when flying back. The information I found online was either outdated or not accurate so here is what I went through:

Check-in
When checking in to my flight in Amsterdam the Dutch staff had notes on what to ask for and they asked me the following questions:
– If I had a negative PCR test and I needed to share with them my result
– If I had a vaccination and I needed to show them my Immune app
– If I had shlonik installed

PCR Test
Before flying back into Kuwait you need to get a PCR test done. This was something I already knew but what gave me anxiety is some people said I needed a PCR result that had a QR code. The test I took in Amsterdam didn’t provide a QR code with the result so I was worried it wouldn’t be accepted. This turned out not to be true, when checking in at the airport the employee just asked if I had done a PCR test and then checked my result on my phone (a PDF file) and that was it. No QR code was required on my result and nobody in Kuwait checked my test once I landed.

One thing to note is to make sure you don’t leave your PCR test for the last minute. I thought getting one would be easier in Amsterdam than Kuwait and so left it till the last minute. That turned out not to be the case. There were limited places that did the test with the result taking up to 24 hours to come out. Also, it was much more expensive to get one done there.

Kuwait Mosafer
Nobody asked me about Kuwait Mosafer. Supposedly you are meant to sign up to kuwaitmosafer.gov.kw before arriving but nobody checked for it or asked me about it.

Shlonik App
Once you land in Kuwait you’ll find posters saying you should install the Shlonik app. The reason for this is you’re automatically placed in quarantine once you arrive and if you have the app installed you’ll get a notification about it. You’re meant to quarantine for 6 days unless you get a negative PCR test so on my way home I just dropped by the 24-hour Jarralah drive-thru PCR test location in Hawally (Map) and got my test done. I had the test at 2AM and by 5:30AM the result was out and the app automatically removed me from quarnatine.

It was overall a pretty simple process which means traveling for a quick weekend like the old days should be very doable. I also liked flying with Kuwait Airways because of the fact they were very lenient in regards to wearing masks on the flight. Even on arrival at the airport nobody cared if you wore a mask or not which was great since we’re all vaccinated anyway.

If anyone has any questions regarding flying in or out of Kuwait, let me know in the comments.

Last week the pioneer Kuwaiti filmmaker Khalid Al Siddiq passed away at the age of 76. Khalid was behind the first feature film to be made in Kuwait (and the GCC) which was released in 1972 called “The Cruel Sea” (Bas ya Bahar).

The film caught the attention of the international film community after it was released including film critic Roger Ebert who wrote the article below (source):

Promising first from Kuwait
By Roger Ebert

In term of film production, the Middle East remains a largely undiscovered territory. There are a handful of nations with healthy movie industries – Israel, Iran and Egypt come to mind – but their product has been mostly for home consumption. That’s started to change in the last few years and Wednesday’s session of the Chicago International Film Festival presents excellent new films from Kuwait and Iran.

“THE CRUEL SEA” (8:45 p.m. Wednesday) takes place before the discovery of oil in Kuwait; the people are desperately poor and scrape by with subsistence farming and fishing. And of course, there is always the long shot: The possibility that an oyster-diver will discover a pearl.

The movie is the first feature, not only for its maker but for its country. Director Khaled el Seddik, who did graduate study at the University of Southern California, returned home to make Kuwait’s first feature. He has resisted any temptations to make a flashy or trendy film, and is true to the rhythm and values of Kuwait’s peasant life of many years ago. And so the picture has a strange emotional undertow; the characters behave toward each other in conservative, almost ritualistic ways, yet their emotions come across all the more strongly.

The story involves a young man (Mohamad Monsour) who is shamed by his family’s poverty and by his inability to impress the family of the girl he loves. He vows to become a pearl diver, to return to the sea that crippled and half-blinded his father. The director gives us measured and perceptive portraits of the dignity with which the men face the sea, and his conclusion is not simply tragic but very bitter.

The film won the FIPRESCI award at the 1972 Venice Film Festival and since then has been playing in film festivals around the world (source). If you haven’t watched the movie, it’s available with English subtitles on YouTube and I’ve embedded it into the post above.

Kuwait Karting has been under construction for a pretty long time but it’s finally open. Located inside Kout Mall, Kuwait Karting is an indoor track that is composed of multi-levels with an overall length of 512m making it the largest of its kind in the region.

There are two tracks, a small junior track for kids and a larger one for adults. The junior track is for children 7+ and can hold up to 5 cars at a time with sessions that are 6 minutes long. The adult track is for ages 13+, can hold 16 cars at a time and the sessions last slightly longer at 8 minutes. Both tracks use electric karts.

They’re open Saturday to Wednesday from 1pm to 10pm and 2pm to 11pm on Thursdays and Fridays. They’re opening later today for the first time so I don’t have their prices yet, but once I get them I’ll update this post. For more info they’re on Instagram @q8karting

Update: Here are the prices

Adult Track
Weekday: KD 6
Weekend: KD 8

Juniors Track
Weekday: KD 3
Weekend: KD 4

Yesterday I finally left Kuwait for a vacation, my first trip since the pandemic started and the experience turned out to be much more simpler than I had anticipated.

I chose to fly Kuwait Airways to Amsterdam. I’ll be staying here for a couple of nights before I start making my way down to Paris over the next few days driving through Bruges (Brussels on the way back), then hitting up some spots in the North of France before heading down to Paris. When planning the trip I looked at direct flights, I didn’t want to deal with hubs and changing planes so my options were really limited. But, picking Kuwait Airways turned out to be the best idea.

The airport in Kuwait was fairly busy but lots of empty spots in the long term parking. A lot of people including security officers weren’t wearing masks so the atmosphere was fairly laid back. On the plane we also didn’t have to wear masks which was great. I did two PCR tests before I traveled. I did the first one and then realized for Amsterdam I needed a test taken 48 hours before the trip and mine would have expired by the time I landed so I took another one to be safe. Nobody even checked them, not in Kuwait nor in Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam nobody is even wearing masks, it feels so weird, feels like everything is normal again and I’m loving it. Places are super busy, restaurants packed and nobody has a mask on except for a the odd tourist here and there, I love it. The only two places so far that have checked to see if I’m vaccinated or not was passport control at the airport, and a restaurant I had dinner at last night. For both I just showed them my immune app.

I’ll be posting about my trip while I’m here, I haven’t done that sort of posting in forever so I’m looking forward to it. If anyone has any questions about the process of flying out of Kuwait, let me know in the comments.

One of the nicest museums in Kuwait, Al Salam Palace opened right at the start of the pandemic and so had to close again soon after. But, after a long delay, the museum is now open again.

Unlike other museums, Al Salam Palace isn’t a walk around freely museum but requires you to be part of a tour. They have two kinds of tours available, a standard tour or a VIP tour.

Standard Tour (English or Arabic)
Duration: 120 minutes
Cost: KD8

VIP Tour (English or Arabic)
Duration: 120 minutes
Cost: KD20

The English tour is only available on Sundays which is going suck for anyone with a day job since they’re only open from 10AM to 4PM. But, it’s a great place to visit so if you’re interested in booking, their website is aspm.com.kw

For a sneak peek at what’s inside, check out my previous post from when I took the tour. Link