Search: “ur”

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.

● Following the success of its #CookWithMe TikTok campaign, talabat has launched a special collection featuring viral TikTok dishes available for order.

● From October 28th, customers can order a variety of viral dishes through the talabat application.

● These viral dishes have received an astonishing 750,000 likes, 19,000 reshares and over 6,000 comments.

talabat, the region’s leading food delivery and q-commerce platform has launched a special collection of dishes from its viral #CookWithMe campaign, due to overwhelming demand from consumers eager to experience the TikTok creations.

The dishes, PB&J smoothies, Nutella treats combined with mozzarella cheese (AKA, Bella Mozza-tella) and chip-crusted chickenare only available at Everyday Coffee, Kofe, Steers, All Things Acai, 32 Burger, and respectively – and can only be ordered for a limited time.

These dishes have received an astonishing 750,000 likes, 19,000 reshares, and over 6,000 comments, once again proving that amazing food does in fact break the internet.

The special edition TikTok collection will be available for a limited amount of time on talabat. Consumers can download the talabat application from the iOS Store, Google Play Store or Huawei App Gallery. Link

For the first time in the Middle East, six writers from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will have the opportunity to turn their dream project into an Arabic-language TV show. The National Creative Industries Group (NCIG) in partnership with Netflix have created an intensive program designed to incubate six creators to turn their TV series ideas into pitch decks ready to present to Netflix in six weeks.

If you have a TV series idea you think would be great for Netflix, submissions to apply for this program opens tomorrow (November 1st).

Selected participants will receive:⁣
– Mentoring and masterclasses led by best-in-class industry professionals⁣
– Sessions with the Netflix development team⁣
– Training and certification by the world-renowned New York Film Academy⁣
– The opportunity to pitch final projects to the Netflix team⁣
– For Saudi-based participants, all travel and accommodation in Kuwait will be covered⁣
⁣
For more information, click here.

Note: This is open to people residing in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, expats included.

BBC published the video above a few hours ago on life in Kuwait during the summer. Not sure why the music had to be so dramatic, it made the whole video sound like we are suffering and dying because of the heat. One thing that caught my interest is the lady planting trees. I don’t know what her day job is but someone should put her in charge of saving Kuwait’s trees.

In case you can’t watch the video above, here is the Link

The Palestinian Culture Center has been operating in Kuwait since the early 1970s. Every year they hold an exhibition with the aim to support needy families as well as preserving the rich and vibrant culture of Palestine. Starting tomorrow and going on till Thursday, the center will be holding an exhibit at Dar Al Funoon.

The exhibit will have hand-stitched dresses, shawls, and cushions for sale, as well as handmade ceramics, books, and food aimed to preserve the Palestinian national identity and showcase how it adapts to modern times.

If you’re interested in passing by, here is the info:

Location: Dar Al Funoon
Date: Monday Oct. 18th – Thursday Oct. 21th 2021
Time: 10 am to 8 pm

They’re also on instagram @palestiniancc

This is such an 80s sport which is why I think it would be great fun to get into. The Kuwait Sailing School offers windsurfing classes and the next one is set for October 15th. It’s a 2 part beginners course that will teach you how to lift the sail up from the water to do your first rides in both directions.

The cost is KD75 and if you’re interested you can book a spot by visiting their website kwtsailing.com/learn-to-windsurf

A lot of Alshaya restaurants closed down during the pandemic last year and most of those locations got picked up by local concepts. The latest two local concepts to open are Doh! and Thick, they both opened up in place of where IHOP used to be in Grand Avenues. Also, Little Ruby’s and Roto are about to open up where Katsuya used to be leaving only the 400 Gradi location in The Forum area that still hasn’t reopened. That large spot got taken over by Burger Boutique and I’m hoping it’s going to be a new OFK location or a Burger Boutique Black. If you want to see a list of all the Alshaya restaurants that closed down, check out my previous post here.