Search: “ur”

The inaugural list of the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants was revealed yesterday and White Robata was the only restaurant from Kuwait that made it coming in at #43. Since they were the only restaurant from Kuwait that also automatically gave them the accolade of The Best Restaurant in Kuwait for 2022.

The majority of the list was dominated by UAE-based restaurants (19 in total) including the overall first place winner going to 3 Fils which is located in Dubai. Five restaurants from Saudi Arabia made the list, two from Bahrain and one from Qatar while five restaurants from Lebanon also made the list and four from Egypt.

To check out MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants, click here.

Every year an updated ranking of all the world’s passports is released based on the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. Previously I used to use the Passport Index for the rankings but their website is a bit of a mess with mismatched data on different pages which makes it difficult to know what’s right and wrong. So starting from this 2022 edition, I’ll be using The Henley Passport Index instead which is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports. Henley’s compares 199 passports and 227 travel destinations for their list and here is how Kuwait’s passport ranks compared to some other countries:

1 – Japan
6 – United States / United Kingdom
7 – Canada
15 – United Arab Emirates
53 – Qatar
54 – Kuwait
62 – Bahrain
65 – Saudi Arabia
84 – India
91 – Egypt
102 – Lebanon

The Kuwaiti passport allows you to travel to 95 destinations without a prior visa. To check out the full rankings and to see what countries your passport allows you to travel to without a prior visa, click here.

There is this pothole in Qurtoba that I pass over when leaving my friend’s place and it’s been like that for three years, maybe longer. I usually tease my friend on it and ask them when they’re planning to fix it or that they should bring it up in the next town meeting ala Parks & Recreation. Then yesterday while I came across a post on @q8needsyou about the pothole because it turns out someone living on that street (not my friend) decided to finally fix the pothole themselves.

If a huge pothole on a prime street in a nice Kuwaiti neighborhood like Qurtoba isn’t getting fixed, you can imagine the state of the roads in other less nice areas like Salwa or Salmiya. This has got me thinking that maybe I should just fix the potholes that bother me myself as well. There are two construction sites on my street and I’m sure I can just pay a worker to go around filling up potholes in the neighborhood with concrete. But maybe someone needs to start a pothole-filling business. Customers would WhatsApp the location of the potholes, they then get a payment link and within 24hours of paying, someone will go fill up the pothole. Easy-peasy so please steal this idea and then get in touch with me!

Last month the Environment Public Authority officially opened the Jahra Nature Reserve to the public. The reserve is considered to be the first eco-tourism project in Kuwait with the aim of increasing environmental awareness and appreciating the landscape.

There are two different observation outposts at the reserve and you will be able to visit one of them during your trip which is limited to an hour and a half. The cost of visiting the reserve is KD10 for up to 5 people and increases the larger the group it. Because it’s a reserve the visit will be guided and so you won’t be able to wander off on your own and are limited to visiting just selected areas.

If you want to visit the reserve then you need to request an entry permit from the EPA and pay the fee. Here is the link to the form on the EPA website. Link

Top photo by sam_blue, bottom by Oboch

Back in November, I posted about how easy it was to get the booster shot but since then things have changed considerably. A lot more people are now getting their boosters and so it’s a lot busier and you also now have to register for an appointment.

If you haven’t registered for your booster dose yet, here is a link to the signup form.

Also on a side note, masks are back again. This past week everywhere I went more people were wearing masks than those who weren’t. What’s interesting about it this time around is that the impression I’m getting is people are choosing to wear the mask out of social responsibility, and not because someone is telling them to do so. Nobody wants to go back into lockdown or life with curfews again that’s for sure.

As part of its ongoing efforts to the safety and well-being of riders working with its platform, talabat Kuwait’s leading food and grocery delivery platform – announced today it will provide life and work injuries insurance to the Delivery’s partners riders to insure riders against work-related incidents and injuries.

Commenting on the announcement, Bader Ibrahim Al-Ghanim, talabat Kuwait’s Managing Director said: “This announcement is in line with our efforts to always prioritize riders safety and well-being when using the talabat platform, and this is what these newly introduced policies will ensure. Additionally, this and similar initiatives will further support local small and medium-sized companies operating in the Delivery sector in Kuwait”.

Al-Ghanim added that ‘talabat always thrives to establish initiatives aiming to improve riders everyday well-being, which means they are always confident when using the talabat app to deliver to customers their favorite meals and groceries’ which in turn means they are always confident about delivering for talabat app users, to deliver them their favorite meals and groceries”.

The attention given to the health and well-being of riders using the talabat app, whether during or outside of working hours, is an integral part of the company’s culture. This has been evident in a number of initiatives including this one which the company has launched in the past.

Various Initiatives:

Since the beginning of the pandemic, talabat has been working on developing and enhancing the overall experience riders have when delivering or using the platform. The company introduced various initiatives in the past that focused on different aspects of the riders every day including their health, well-being, and personal finances. This comes as part of talabat’s belief that riders are the company’s everyday heroes who make it possible to deliver to people around the region their favorite orders anywhere and at any time.

Al-Ghanim concluded his statement by adding ‘Supporting the delivery sector is of great importance and is necessary for everyone in the industry, and we, therefore, encourage others to adopt similar initiatives that do not only support business owners, but also those who are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic, and to positively impact thousands of riders in the industry.’

Padel really blew up in Kuwait with a ton of courts opening up and more still under construction. There doesn’t seem to be a one-stop solution to renting a court or buying all your gear so I’ve compiled two lists below, one of courts you can book and the other, a list of different shops selling Padel gear.

Book a Court:
Go Padel
Kuwait City Padel
Lets Padel
Padel Blu
Padel Bnaider
Play Padel
The Padel Club

Padel Gear:
All About Padel
KW Padel
Padel House
Padel Kuwait
Padel Rackets
Padel Shop
The Padel Club
The Racket Store

If I missed a court or shop, let me know in the comments so I can add it.

Toby’s Estate have been popping up all over the place. They just opened their Assima Mall location a few weeks ago (pictured above) and now have another new location down the street in Arraya.

Burger Boutique are also now open again in Arraya. They had closed down their location temporarily but reopened again today.

If you don’t know where Arraya is, here is the location on Google Maps.

Thrf is a new online thrift shop set up by the very fashionable @hesitant__alien. The account sells pre-loved, vintage, and brand new clothing all hand-picked by her and updated every weekend. All the prices and sizes are listed in the description and everything is very reasonably priced.

The clothes sell out fairly quickly so make sure you follow the account to be notified once they drop @thrf_kw

There is a new dedicated sneaker cleaning place that opened up in Shuwaikh called “Clean Kicks”. They can clean, restore and even customize your sneakers. Their prices start at 5.5 KD for a wash but can climb a lot higher depending on what you want them to do. I took a photo of their menu and you can check it here.

If you want to drop by your sneakers to them, they’re located in Lilly Center in Shuwaikh. They’re kinda tucked away in the alleyway behind the building so the easiest way to find it is by walking towards Circuit Plus since they’re right past their entrance. Here is the location on Google Maps and they’re also on Instagram @cleankicks.kw

Yesterday I went to the fairgrounds in Mishref to get my booster shot. I got my second dose back in April so it’s been over 6 months which qualifies me for a booster dose. I was worried because it was a weekend and with all the stories regarding a new variant that the place would be popping but instead, it was totally empty. Like maybe just a couple of other people getting their shots but that’s about it and I was there around noon which wasn’t even early.

If it’s been over 6 months since your last Pfizer or AstraZeneca shot then you don’t even need to apply for an appointment online, you can just walk in. They’re giving boosters for both vaccines and they also ask you if you want an influenza shot which I didn’t get, but I liked that they have more than one item on the menu.

If you’re interested in getting a booster they’re open daily except for Fridays. Saturdays they open from 8AM to 4PM but on weekdays they open from 8AM to 7:30PM. According to the nurse if you come in around 7PM they might have run out of vaccines for the day so the earlier you get there the better. The nurse told me I might get a fever at night and I did, ended up hitting me in the middle of the night, just shivering chills which wasn’t too bad.

There currently is a Perfume Exhibition taking place at the fairgrounds so parking might be an issue. Here is the location on Google Maps.

You might have noticed recently that Safe Search on Google is turned on by default and can’t be switched off. It seems local internet providers were asked by the MOC to switch it on and lock it so that it can’t be turned off. Luckily for iPhone users, there is an easy way to bypass it on your phone while at the same time being more private. I just found out about this so I’m assuming a lot of people don’t know about it either.

If you have the latest iOS update installed, head to Settings then click on your Apple ID at the top, and then iCloud. In the list, you’ll find an option called “Private Relay (Beta)”. Just turn that on and problem solved, you’ll now be able to use google with Safe Search off.

Thanks Nasser!

A couple of weeks ago when I posted about my Datsun, a reader suggested I install a hidden GPS tracker on it. I thought about it and it kinda made sense so I decided to see how much one would cost. After doing a lot of research, I ended up getting a GPS tracker called Tracki.

There were a number of reasons I chose Tracki including:
– it came with a sim card
– it would work worldwide
– the monthly subscription was around $14
– it has a 4 out 5 rating on Amazon with 24,000+ reviews
– the tracker cost only $10!

Other things I also looked at were battery life and what kind of connection it had, in this case, Tracki charged over normal micro-USB and battery life depended on how often I wanted it to ping back the location. For example, if I wanted to update the location every 2 hours, then the battery life would last 12-15 days. If I wanted the location to be updated every 6 hours then the battery life would last 22-26 days. On the other hand, if I wanted live tracking where the tracker would update the location every few minutes, then battery life would only last 3-5 days.

The battery life clearly isn’t that great but there is a simple workaround. You could either hardwire the tracker into your car either by getting an adapter to plug it into your OBD port (most new cars have it), or you could run a USB cable to the tracker from your cars USB port of fusebox, that way whenever the car is on it’s charging your tracker. In my case, I decided I would just strap a power bank to it. I have a few laying around the house that I don’t use and one is more than enough to keep the tracker running for a couple of months. Even if I have to swap the battery out every month that wouldn’t be too much of an issue.

So does it work? Yeah, it does. At any time I can just launch the Tracki app and check and see where my car is or where it was. So not only can I know where my car is at any given moment, but I can also view the history of where it’s been. That’s useful if say your car was stolen and then taken and parked somewhere underground. You could at least track the car before it went underground. And then if say for some reason the tracker can’t get you an accurate GPS point, it can continue to give you a rough idea of where it is using wifi or cell towers to triangulate its location.

Attaching the tracker to your car is very easy, you can either use the magnet on the back of the unit to attach it to a metal surface, or use the double-sided tape that came with it to stick it somewhere. If you’re connecting it to the collar of your pet, you could use the rubber case which has a lanyard or keychain hole in it.

There are a couple of negatives with Track the first being the Tracki app. It just feels over-complicated and buggy. For example, sometimes I try to save settings and get an error when in reality it actually saved the settings. Also, battery life is probably the biggest issue. Not sure if it’s because I was playing with the settings too much or what exactly, but I have the tracker set up to update the location every 4 hours which means the battery life should last 18-22 days, but it ended up lasting me just a week. It’s not that big of a deal since I’ll be strapping a battery pack to it, but if you’re using the tracker say to track your pet, you can’t really attach a battery pack to it. One more thing that is annoying is that 1 subscription covers 1 device. So if you get a tracker for all your cars you don’t get to share an account or even a discounted rate.

If you’re interested in getting Tracki, the price on Amazon fluctuates between $9.88 and $14.88. Amazon can also ship the device to you directly and that cost me an additional $21.59. You could ship it to your Aramex Shop&Ship account and pay less but I didn’t want to wait that long. Here is the link to Tracki on Amazon.com

This was a surprisingly very interesting and well-put-together short video on showjumping in Kuwait. Lots of interesting tidbits on the history of the sport in Kuwait including info on how it all started. I also had no idea that in 1982 three girls from Kuwait won first, second, AND third place at the Asian Games showjumping competition. That’s pretty wild, and what a year it must have been for sports in Kuwait with the football team also taking part at the World Cup just a few months earlier.

The film is just 7 minutes long so definitely check it out. YouTube

I downloaded the Avenues app years ago but then deleted it from my phone since it was pretty much useless, but turns out a year ago, the app got a major update with some cool features. One useful feature I found out about is called “Park My Car”. Say you want to go to a specific store in Avenues and you want to park as close as possible to it, in the app look for the store you want and once you get to the brand page you’ll find the “Park My Car” option at the bottom. If you click on it, the app will tell you which is the closest parking entrance and you can even have it take you to that entrance with Google Maps. Pretty nifty.

If you want to download the app it’s available on the Apple Store and Google Play.