Below is this weekends list of events and a bunch of interesting things happening including two events at the race track, the Drag Racing Championship and the Open Track. As usual, if I missed anything, let me know in the comments:
Recently a decision was made to cancel the use of residency stickers inside passports. Instead, you’ll need to have a valid Civil ID card when traveling as a means of verifying your residency. The name on the Civil ID card has to match your name in your passport or you’ll risk being denied travel in or out of Kuwait. Having weird spellings or incorrect data on the Civil ID is pretty common, so if your info doesn’t match your passport, you now have to fix it. Yesterday someone on Reddit posted the steps below on how to go about doing this:
Step 1) Go to the PACI eEnvelope system website, if the website is in Arabic you can change the language to English, there’s an option at the top of the page
Step 2) Click on non-Kuwaiti Renewal
Step 3) Enter your Civil ID and serial no. which is shown on the back
Step 4) You’ll have to verify your mobile no. so they’ll send you a verification SMS
Step 5) Enter all data required (blood type is optional but if that needs changing too then you’ll need to also upload a lab report)
Step 6) Upload the required documents
Step 7) You’ll be sent an application’s reference number to your registered mobile no., which you can use to track your application’s progress
Step 8) Wait and wait, this will take a few days as your application needs to be checked manually, once it’s approved you’ll be sent a link on your mobile to make the payment of KD5, after that you’ll just go have to go to South Surra to replace your old ID with the new one
Hey, this is your local film buff checking in on my yearly visit to this blog to spout out my favorite films of the year (because my opinion is right and everyone else is wrong).
Disclaimer: At the time of writing this article, I hadn’t seen the following highly acclaimed films that might have had a spot otherwise: Border, Caphernaum, Minding the Gap, The Rider, and Suspiria
Note: This year has proven to be one of the worst years for Hollywood Big Studio films, but an incredible year for independent cinema. As such, you may have never heard of some of the films listed below, but how boring would it be if I wrote this entire giant article just talking about films you already know. Wouldn’t it be great to be recommended stuff you haven’t heard of, so you can find it in you to take a risk and watch it? Who knows, you might find yourself surprised to discover a gem you would have never searched for otherwise…
Draewil is a car booking app similar to Uber and Careem, but is meant to compete more with the likes of Grand Limo. They got in touch with me a couple of weeks back and asked me to try them out, and it was perfect timing since I had to drop my Lotus off at the garage to get new brake pads.
One of the biggest advantages Draewil has over Grand Limo is the app itself. It looked better, worked a lot faster and payment is automated since you can add your knet card to the app. I got KD20 credit loaded up into my account by Draewil, and so decided to splurge by ordering their Luxury category vehicle. Draewil has three categories to choose from, executive, luxury and SUV with the availability of each being different as well as the cost. I had dropped my car off at the garage in Al Rai and needed a car to drop me off to my office in the city. Their luxury vehicle needed around 17 minutes to get to me which was long, but ok in my case since I still had some paperwork I needed to sign.
I ended up being picked up by a brand new Lexus LS which is cool, but I was actually hoping to be picked up by one of their new Audi A8’s since I hadn’t been in one of those yet. The car had plenty of legroom and was immaculate, but that makes sense since Draewil is fairly new so their cars are all brand new as well. The ride from Al Rai to Kuwait City ended up taking 18 mins and cost me KD7.250.
The second time I tried them out was the same day when I wanted to head back to the garage to pick up my Lotus. I ended up ordering their executive car and had it pick me up from Crystal Tower in the city. There was a vehicle in the area so it took just 2 minutes to pick me up. This time I was picked up by a Genesis, another car I hadn’t been in before. Surprisingly, the car was as comfortable as the Lexus and even felt a bit more spacious since the Genesis didn’t have a large TV console between me and the driver. The journey again took 18 minutes, but because I chose an executive vehicle, the price came out slightly cheaper at KD6.
So would I use them again? Yeah, probably. I don’t generally use cabs a lot only when I need to drop my car off somewhere like when I want to get detailing done or if I’m servicing it, so I can afford to splurge on a cab on the rare occasion that I need one. The biggest advantage to me for using Draewil over similar luxury car booking services is the app, I like it a lot. It’s really easy to use, I’ve already added my most used destinations to it like my office, my home, the garage etc and I’ve also added my knet card to it. The service is also new so their cars are brand new and they’re still adding more vehicles to their fleet on a monthly basis. At the moment Draewil is only out for iOS devices, but I was told an Android app is being released before the end of the month. If you have an iPhone, you can download the app right now from the Apple Store by clicking [Here]
Yesterday I launched the new and improved look for the blog which I worked on with the team at Wavai. I tried to keep everything mostly in the same place, I just cleaned up and simplified the layout a bit. The biggest change is that the blog is now finally mobile-phone friendly. If you access the blog from your phone (which 65% of you do), then you’re going to see a much simpler and clearer 1-column layout.
There are a lot of issues that still need to be worked out with the new design, and I’m still working on a lot of random little things behind the scenes so please be patient. It’s probably going to take a couple of more weeks for me to finish everything. Once I’m done with the main page I’ll work on applying the new look to all the other sections on the blog like the Events page and Classifieds. For now, let me know what you think.
A few years ago I posted about the Scientific Center expansion plans and one of the most controversial aspects of it was the fact the plans included a new dolphinarium. As you know, holding dolphins in captivity is pretty cruel and a friend of mine even posted an appeal in hopes of stopping it.
Recently construction started next to Scientific Center and I was curious to know if the dolphinarium was still being built. So I got in touch with my contact at the Scientific Center who not only reassured me that they are not going ahead with the dolphinarium, but he also shared with me some new information on the expansion as well as the visuals I’ve shared in this post.
The Scientific Center have now started construction work on the new expansion, with the first phase focused on marine works and land reclamation. This includes renovation of the Dhow Harbor area and the relocation of the seawater intake pipe which provides clean seawater to the tanks within the aquarium. The construction you see now on the side of the Scientific Center (pictured above) is for the marine works which is estimated to take around 9 months. This will be followed by the groundbreaking, structural foundation of the expansion, the construction of the superstructure, MEP, the finishing and new exhibits installations, and then finally the renovation of the existing building attractions and exhibits.
The design and programming of the expansion building was developed as a priority, in partnership with the center’s Board and consultation from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). The expansion commits the center to playing a leading role on a national level to transform the country and help develop a knowledge-driven economy. Because of this commitment, the programming and exhibits within the expansion aim to increase the quality of STEM teaching from the center, as well as the importance of environmental protection, through engaging learning experiences.
The expansion will introduce new concepts to the region, as well as inspiring exhibits, through both new additions and the renovation of current ones. The public can expect to see reinvigorated ecosystems in the Mijbil Almutawa Aquarium, modern commodities and services, a brand new children’s science museum, as well as numerous new halls and labs enabling visitors, schools, universities and more to engage with the center in developing their own innovations to better Kuwait.
Here are some other facts you might find interesting:
– The renovation of the aquarium is being done in partnership with the creative
design and consultancy firm ROTO, who you can learn about [Here]
– The overall expansion is estimated to come at an approximate value of KD 36 million, with a timeline of projected completion by 2022
– Many people aren’t aware that the Scientific Center is a non-profit
– The center is aiming to introduce class-specific programs, labs, and workshops for educators to use for their own curriculum
– The footprint of the center is doubling
So to summarize, there will be no dolphinarium and the Scientific Center will be increasing their exhibits and attractions and refurbishing the current building. All of that is expected to be completed in around 3-4 years.
Yesterday Kuwait Motor Town opened up registration for three open track day events set for March 23, April 19 and April 26. The March 23rd date sold out in around 40 minutes while the April 19th date sold out soon after. Right now there are still slots available for the April 26th date, so if you’re interested in participating with your car, you need to book asap. Here is the [Link]
If you haven’t passed by Al Shaheed Park to check out their Garden of Lights festival then you should. I dropped by yesterday and had a lot of fun discovering their various light installations that were spread out all around the park. They even had a very cool Donkey Kong installation that was actually playable (pictured above).
Al Shaheed was pretty packed with people but I think that had to do more with the fact the weather was great and not because of the lights festival. The Garden of Lights ends in a few days, for more info check out the event post [Here]
A couple of weeks back, The Regency Hotel got in touch with me and asked me if I’d be interested in experiencing “Le Petit Chef” since they were hosting it in Kuwait for a limited time. I quickly googled it and found the video below and it looked interesting, so I accepted their invitation.
Le Petit Chef is a dining experience based around a mini animated chef and his culinary adventures following the footsteps of Marco Polo. The experience combines 3D projection onto your table and a 6-course meal composed of dishes from around the world. I was told the show was 2 hours long so I had warned my friend we might end up leaving before the show was over if I got bored. Surprisingly, I didn’t and we ended up staying till the very end.
The show started at 8:30PM but we were told to get there early for pre-drinks. The 6-course meal also has an option of drinks to go along with it, and I’m pretty they’re all meant to be alcoholic drinks that were turned into mocktails for Kuwait. When one of the drinks arrived I told my friend it looked like a smoked rosemary whisky sour and when I tried it, I realized it was, just without the whisky of course. At one point during the dinner, the waiter even asked us if we wanted white or red wine with one of the courses. Cute.
Just before the show started we were all led downstairs to one of The Regency’s restaurants which is currently hosting Le Petit Chef. The setup is pretty simple, but it works. Every table had a projector over it that projected 3D footage onto the table. Items like plates and trays get placed in predefined spots on the table so that whatever is being projected looks like it’s interacting with the real physical items.
The show was pretty cheesy, but I actually enjoyed it. The food was ok, nothing really special but I still had a good time because I hadn’t experienced anything like it before. It’s like those restaurants that serve you food in complete darkness or the sub zero ice bars, they’re gimmicks you experience once with a friend, have fun but never go back to. Le Petit Chef is pretty much the same. Two hours ended up flying by without feeling too long nor with me getting bored (which is impressive).
The price, on the other hand, is going to be a bit hard to swallow. The 6-course meal costs KD39 per person, while the accompanying drinks are an extra KD12. So it’s not a place you’d want to take kids to. My recommendation? Skip the drinks, they’re too many and there’s no alcohol involved so you won’t enjoy them. The show is running for a limited time only and takes place daily at 8:30PM except for Sundays. If you’re interested you need to call and book ahead of time on 25766880.
This weekend isn’t as busy as last weekend, but I did find some cool events so there should be enough in the list below to keep you busy. If I missed anything let me know in the comments:
Now that Deliveroo has been operating for sometime I wanted to see how they’d match up with Carriage on delivery speed. So, I decided I’d place an order with both services at the exact same time and see which would get to me faster. The first step was to find a restaurant that was on both services, for that I decided to go with Eighty Six.
I ordered the same item on both Carriage and Deliveroo which was “The Scrambled” sandwich and I put the delivery address as my office which is down the street from Eighty Six.
So which got here faster?
Before placing an order I checked the estimated delivery times on both and they had Eighty Six listed with the following average delivery time:
Deliveroo: 15-25 mins
Carriage: 25-30 mins
Order was submitted at 12:58PM for both.
While tracking the drivers to my office, the Carriage app suddenly stated that the order had been delivered to me. Carriage drivers have a habit of marking an item as delivered before they get delivered which is annoying. Then my phone rang and I looked outside my office and spotted the Deliveroo driver there. So I opened the door and as the deliveroo driver was handing me my order, the elevator door opened behind him and the Carriage driver was there also with my order.
Conclusion of my very unscientific test? Both Deliveroo and Carriage were exactly the same speed in this occasion which is why I feel like I kinda have to turn this experiment into a best of 3. So stay tuned for a second run at this.
Yesterday I took part in the first open track event at Kuwait Motor Town and I had such a great experience I had to share it on the blog. The day after it still feels a bit unreal, not only do we finally have our very own race track in Kuwait, but it’s a great one as well!
National Circuit (4,540M)
Our track layout is just incredible! They had the National Circuit layout open for yesterdays event (pictured above) and compared to the two track layouts I’ve raced on in Bahrain, I think ours is way more fun. It’s fast, long and there is a lot going on all the way. I was worried the track might favor larger more powerful cars but I think it works really favorably for mine.
The video above is a full lap around the track starting from the pit lane exit. Sorry about the sound, and RIP little bug my GoPro killed halfway through.
The open track started from very early in the morning. According to the schedule they sent us we were meant to arrive around 8:30 so we could start with the registration process before the drivers briefing at 9:20. I got there early around 8:15AM and to my surprise, there were cars there already. People actually started showing up on time and so the drivers briefing started on schedule with a brief about the track, the different warning flags as well as giving us a bunch of safety tips. Super informative for first time open trackers.
This is probably a good time to highlight the fact that the team working at KMT yesterday were extremely professional. Everyone knew what they were doing and the whole thing was extremely organized. It didn’t feel like their first open track event, it felt like it was something they had been doing for years and that was impressive.
I didn’t count the number of cars yesterday, but I think we were around 60 in total since I was #59. They divided us into two groups, I was in Group B. Another example of how organized they were, they handed out lanyards with our names and group letter on the front, while the backside had the days schedule. That was incredibly practical, in Bahrain we’re always asking what time lunch is or when our turn is etc..
Once we were done with the briefing we took our cars into the pitlane. The pits I think were the most disappointing part about KMT. They were small, had low ceilings and the bathrooms felt cheap and flimsy. That’s one thing I prefer about Bahrain’s circuit over ours and it’s my only complaint about Kuwait Motor Town. But, it’s not a deal breaker.
The first sessions of the day involved following a lead car. This wasn’t at very high speeds and it was to familiarize ourselves with the track and the racing lines. Once those practice sessions were done, it was flat out racing and it was so much fun. I had a bunch of friends in the same group as me so we just spent the day racing each other. The video above was shot from inside my car and kind of gives you an idea of how it feels to race in an open track event. The track is overexposed in the video but you can still make out the tarmac and the cars so it’s watchable. Keep in mind there are no winners in an open track event, it’s all just for fun.
The event finished at 5PM just as the sun was setting. It’s a beautiful track and looked even better as the sun was setting. I really had such a blast yesterday and now I can’t wait till the next open track event. No offense to ASCC and JACC, but this is by far my favorite Diwan Al Amiri project. Thank you KMT for hosting such a great track day. For more information about Kuwait Motor Town and a list of their upcoming events, here is a link to their [Website]
There are three cool things happening this weekend. The first is the Kuwait Baseball Championship which of course means corndogs and lemonade, the second is the Show Jumping Competition, and the third is the Kuwait Motor Town Open Track which I’m taking part in (open to spectators). Check out the full list of this weekends events below:
Kuwait Motor Town are going to start running their own Open Trackdays at the circuit starting from March. An open track is when drivers can sign up to race their cars around the circuit for fun.
Their first open track is this coming Saturday (March 2) with a car and driver entry fee of KD75 which is pretty good (Bahrain International Circuit is around KD70 for example). I think the open track limit is 50 or 60 cars and they sold out of spots a few hours after announcing it. I managed to book a spot for me, so I’ll be participating with my Lotus Cup car this Saturday.
The only issue I’m concerned about is there is no fuel station at the track and the nearest fuel stations are a bit far out so its a BYOF (bring your own fuel) situation which is annoying. In Bahrain, I tend to get three 30 minute sessions done before needing to refuel, but there is a gas station inside the track and a couple outside, across the street from the circuit. I probably need to go scout the gas stations around KMT before Saturday and figure out which one would be the quickest to get to and back without wasting a lot of time.
I’m super excited about this since I’ll be able to take part in a lot more track days compared to before, and it’s going to save me a lot of money since I no longer have to keep shipping my car to Bahrain every time I want to track the car. If you missed signing up to this open track there will be more coming, here was the link to the sign-up page [Link]
Update: I ended up heading towards KMT this morning to check out the fuel situation. For those taking part, or planning to take part in the future and want to know what the fuel situation is, here is what you need to know:
At the moment there is no gas station at the track. There is one gas station around 15 minutes before the track that has Ultra 98 fuel (green), and this would be a good station to top off your fuel before getting to the track. Here is the location of that station on [Google Maps].
Once you’re at the track the closest fuel station with Ultra 98 fuel is in Ali Sabah Al Salem area [Google Maps]. It takes around 10 minutes to get there from the track without any traffic and all the traffic lights green. It then takes around 12 minutes to get from there back to the track. So if you include the fueling process, it will take you over 30 minutes to leave the track, fuel up and come back.
Update 2: Spectators are allowed to come and watch from the grand stands. There is no entry fee, it’s free. Here is the location of the track on [Google Maps]
