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For those of you who’ve ever ordered anything by regular mail you know that once it arrives to Kuwait you can’t track it anymore. Usually you wait a few days and then head to the office to check and see if they’ve received it yet, if not you then have to come back again another time. Well thanks to a reader I found out that you can now track your package once it arrives to Kuwait via a web application that is intended only for MOC use. Here is the [Link]

Hopefully this website won’t get disabled now that its public. It makes life easier.

Update: The link above no longer works but there is now an official tracking website [Here]

Last week I was going through my instagram explore page and found a video of a new indoor skate park, turns out it was part of “Trampo Extreme”, the new Trampo location in Murouj. So I got in touch with them and headed over to check the place out.

The new Trampo location is HUGE with a lot of different activities to try out. First you have the trampolines area which takes up around 1/3 of the whole space. There are different kinds of trampolines to choose from including a dodge ball trampoline court for competitive action against friends. Right next to the trampoline section you have a leap of faith tower and a vertical slide, both of which are meant to test your courage.

Now the other areas of the new Trampo location is where I think things get interesting. First you have a large area on your right once you walk in filled with really tall climbing walls. This is my favorite area in the whole arena since it’s one I’ll probably go back to try.

Right in the middle of the arena but raised above ground is a cable climbing area. It’s a obstacle course in the air which you traverse and once you get to the end of it there is a zip line that takes you to the other side.

The last activity at the new Trampo location is one I think a lot of teenagers are going to love, a skate park. The skate park is divided into three main areas with the first one aimed towards intermediate skaters. This area is composed of a large shallow pool on one side and low rails and ledges on the other with small quarter pipes.

The second area behind the intermediate one is the main skating area and consists of two large quarter pipes connected to each other with volcanos in the middle. This area is a lot more difficult but to help make things a bit easier, there is a third area where you could go to and practice your tricks.

The training area consists of a slope down to a quarter pipe which has a foam pit behind it. This way skaters and riders can practice their tricks without having to worry about getting hurt. And yes, BMX riders can use these facilities alongside skaters and if you don’t have a skateboard or bike, they have them available for you to use.

I got the price list from Tampo and it’s as follows:

Jump: KD6.5/hour
Climb: KD6/hour
Skate’n’Ride Junior: KD7/hour
Skate’n’Ride Pro: KD5.5/hour
Leap: KD1
Slide: KD1
Zipline: KD4

Trampo Extreme just opened this past weekend and their hours are Monday to Thursday 2PM to 10PM, Friday 10AM to 10PM, Saturday 10AM to 8PM and Sundays they are closed. The skate area doesn’t require any bookings but the climbing and trampoline areas do. To book your spot you can do so online from their website [Here]

Last year I posted about a frame shop in Shuwaikh which I used to customize a frame for one of my prints. Since then I’ve used two other shops as well, not because the original one I posted about wasn’t good enough, but mostly because I didn’t feel like going to Shuwaikh every time I needed a frame done.

Boushahri Group Photography And Graphic Arts
Most of you know Boushahri from back in the days when you needed to get your portrait photo taken for passports or civil IDs. Nowadays they’re a pretty tiny setup mostly just printing your digital photos and picture framing. I had a large black and white photo I needed framed along with a white mount so I decided to try Boushahri since they’re really close to my house. Their frame shop is located behind their photography shop and they had a large variety of frames to choose from as well as different colored mounts. I briefed them on the job, got a quote on the spot for KD15 which was really reasonable and was told the frame would be done in a couple of days. The next day they called me up and told me my frame was ready to pick up. Good service and a great price. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

Elegant Frame & Art (Mashmoom)
I had been trying to get a hold of the Michael Kagan print above since end of 2013 and I finally managed to get a copy only a couple of months ago (long story involving lots of drama with the artist). Because of the importance of this print to me and the way I wanted it framed, I didn’t think my Shuwaikh guy would be able to do it. Although I’m sure Boushahri could, I figured I’d take it to a place that had more experience. There used to be a store near Salhiya called Elegant Frame & Art, I say used to be because when I passed by the location it turned out they had moved. I posted on twitter asking if anyone knew where they moved to and someone from Elegant Frame & Art contacted me telling me they moved to Sun City inside a store called Mashmoom. So I headed there, met with the specialist, briefed him on what I wanted and left. I had two prints by Michael, the one pictured above and another one thats roughly twice as tall. They told me they would need around a week to get it done and they’d let me know how much it would cost. Two days later they messaged me to tell me it would cost KD40… per frame! I thought that was too expensive but I honestly didn’t want to drive back to Sun City in Shuwaikh to pick up the prints nor was I in the mood to brief someone else on the job. So I ended up haggling and managed to drop the price down to KD60 for both. Five days later the frames were ready to pick up. They ended up framing the prints exactly like how I wanted them framed and it was pretty much a perfect job except for two things. One of the frames has what looks like a bit of glue/dirt on the inside of the glass, luckily it’s over a colorful spot so doesn’t really show, there was also a bit of glue/dirt on the white frame which I managed to clean up myself. The other issue is with the frame border, I had originally briefed them that I wanted the thickness to be 2.5cm but when I gave them the go ahead on the job I told them I wanted it changed to 2cm instead. They kept it 2.5cm. On the positive side, they stuck like little cork bumpers on the back corners of the frame so not to damage the wall you’d be mounting on. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

So overall my experience was fairly positive but if I had to choose between the two I’d definitely go back to Boushahri. They’re more conveniently located, their prices were pretty good and the finishing of the frame was great. I think they’re going to be my go to place from now on instead of the Shuwaikh guy just because they’re located down the road from me.

Tiger Tiger the new pan-asian restaurant by the guys behind Ora is currently open in pop-up form for just this week in Kuwait City. Their menu is small and composed of the below three starters and three mains:

Starters KD2.5
Duck Spring Roll
Shrimp on Toast
Cream Cheese Wonton

Mains KD4.5
Orange Chicken
Thai Chili Beef
Kung Pao Shrimp

If you want to try them out they’re only going to be open until Thursday (May 12) from 6PM onwards. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

Looks like opening up an Indian restaurant is going to be the next new thing for small Kuwaiti businesses. After the success of places like Namaste and 12 Chutneys, a lot of people seem to be jumping on the Indian cuisine bandwagon. I know of at least 4 new Indian restaurants that are opening up soon with the one pictured above opening up next to Slider Station (where Atari used to be located).

I find this pretty annoying.

Last month I posted about the new delivery law where restaurants can no longer have a minimum delivery order or charge more than 500 fils for delivery. The law turned out to be controversial since it benefited the consumers but hurt small businesses. Now though there might be a solution for those small businesses who can’t afford their own delivery vehicles, while also being beneficial to us consumers.

Carriage is a new local service provider that delivers food from restaurants that don’t usually deliver. So if feel like pizza from Solo PN or Sweet & Sour Prawns from Peacock? You can now order from them using the app Carriage. Of course the service isn’t free, Carriage charge KD1 per order which isn’t a lot considering you don’t have a minimum order amount to pay or compared to how much some restaurants charge for delivery.

Right now they’re still in the beta testing phase so the app isn’t available yet in the Apple and Android store. They should be launching sometime later this month. If you’re interested in trying out the app before the official launch then visit their website and register for the beta program [Here]

Kuwait is taking homeland security to new heights — or, as some see it — new lows.

Later this year, the Persian Gulf nation will require its citizens, temporary residents and tourists to submit DNA samples to a $400 million security database.

Kuwait’s National Assembly passed the law in July, a month after an ISIS suicide bomber killed 27 people and injured 227 in the country’s capital.
“We are prepared to approve anything needed to boost security measures in the country,” Jamal al-Omar, a parliament member, told Agence France-Presse.

The government will collect saliva and blood samples from anyone living there. Tourists will have to submit their own samples before entering the country.

Disobeying the law will cost you. Those who refuse to provide samples can face up to a year in jail and a $33,000 fine; falsifying DNA samples will result in seven years behind bars.

While the Kuwait’s department of criminal evidence insists that the database won’t affect personal freedoms, the law has sparked outrage. Some travelers tweeted that they won’t be returning to the country anytime soon. [Source]

This is going to be great for the local tourism industry.

Update: Newsweek has also posted about this [Here]

Visitors to Kuwait will also have to provide DNA samples to the government. When arriving by plane, visitors will stop at a center at Kuwait International Airport to have their DNA sample taken. Bruce Schneier, a prominent American privacy and cybersecurity specialist, says that the collection will likely be a standard cheek swab.

For citizens, the Kuwaiti government will have mobile centers to collect samples. Anyone faking the DNA samples faces up to a maximum seven years in prison.

A few days ago I posted about how a new law came out stating that restaurants could no longer place a minimum order amount on deliveries and how the maximum they could charge for delivery is also just 500fils. As a consumer I think thats fantastic news but as a business order and specifically a small business order this could signal doom. I had long heated discussion with a friend of mine on Facebook and later offline on this very subject. My friend is one of the co-founders of Al Nata, a brand I’ve posted about on the blog a number of times. They’re a small business, a startup basically and this new law will be causing them a lot of issues. I was originally going to write about their perspective but then decided to let them do it themselves so I invited my good friend AJ to post about it himself. This is what he sent me:

I’m not sure if you’ve recently seen news of a law that was passed on the 10th of April and enacted on the 17th of April.

The Law, in its first article, states the following:

“Delivery charges –
Within the town of the restaurant 0.250 KD
Outside of the town of the restaurant 0.500 KD

Minimum order amounts will not be allowed on meals or single items. Delivery must be done according to the rules above.”

It has a few other articles that are reasonable, but it’s this first one which I believe to be unreasonable.

First a little background on myself. I’m a budding entrepreneur with almost no key money. I don’t have a family office I can withdraw funds from at leisure and as such predicated my entire business model on hard work and financial projections that I update on a daily basis and continue to tweak to ensure I can manage my cash appropriately until I break even.

I have been operating for almost a year now, and recently I’ve been able to just about touch the horizon of break even-Dom. Ah yes, the fabled land of not having to worry about whether or not you’ll have enough cash to pay your rent and employees.

A big part of seeing this horizon has been based on my restaurant’s ability to attract orders on a daily basis to supplement direct cash injections into the company that I regularly make from my own day job salary. I was able to accurately model the income and growth of these cash deliveries by building my model according to a fixed minimum order amount when I make a delivery.

Here’s the best part. As any startup will attest, it’s physically impossible to make all deliveries ourselves on a daily basis with just one driver and a car. As such we have two solutions:

1- Pray to our lucky stars that we somehow find enough cash lying around to pay for more drivers and cars. (Oh, and that’s if we can get more drivers on our Shu2oon documents, but let’s leave that for another day).

2- Contract a third party to do our deliveries for us at an exorbitant but necessary price.

Naturally, being the pragmatic fellow I am, I went for the latter, though on occasion my partner does leave a few offerings for the cash Gods to somehow rain upon us. He’s a believer though.

Anyway, we began looking for perishable delivery services with as quick turnaround as possible ( ps quickest turnaround available is an hour from placing the call, which is why restaurants delivery times on Talabat are normally one hour or more – yes, a lot of us use third parties). Once we got a shortlist, we started using them to find someone that can stick to a schedule.

No trials come free of course, so this is out of pocket money to make sure we can deliver on time before we even start delivering.

Here’s the kicker though:

Price per trip within the first 6 ring roads?
2.500 KD – 3.000 KD

So before we even start preparing your order, I’ve already paid 2.500 to 3.000 KD of your order amount to this third party.

Let’s assume I’m a brilliant negotiator and got the 2.500 KD per trip rate (ps – I am…)

So here I am looking at your order for let’s say 3.500 KD of food.

In order for me to make money on this order, I’m going to have to make sure your ingredients and the labor cost to make it cost are equal to or less than 1 KD.

Let’s assume I’m Superman and somehow make the above work (hint: it’s pretty impossible if you’re using quality ingredients and quality staff).

So now I’ve got 2.500 KD delivery cost and 1.000 KD ingredients AND labor/staff overhead costs rolled into one.

That’s a total of 3.500 KD in this best case scenario in costs.

If I have to follow this new law without placing a minimum order value on deliveries, I have broken even on this delivery. I have not made not lost any money.

And maybe for some that’s all well and good (honestly it isn’t good…for anyone), in which case they’re simply fulfilling orders for people without any gain.

And actually they’ve lost something even more valuable, the time they had to spend fulfilling an order that made them no money. So this break even model assumes there’s no inherent cost for time…

And that, my friends, is bogus.

If time had no value, your sitting at a desk doing nothing on some days should by default also equate to no pay. And yet you do get paid, because your employer understands your time has an implicit value that you have contracted to and seek to honor.

In the above scenario, my business breaks even on your order and loses the implicit value of time spent painstakingly preparing your order. But we get no recompense because we are a seller in a supposedly free market that you buy from.

But this market isn’t free at all, because all its done is protect the consumer’s right to eat whatever they want whenever they want (which mind you, isn’t really a right at all).

So here I am, looking at this law and thinking about how I can work as a business moving forward.

I can’t predict cash flows any longer from my orders. My bills are piling up, and I can’t get cash from banks or funds. I’m pretty much staring down the barrel of a gun, and my government has decided to pull the trigger.

Good bye, and good luck,

Signed,
Ahmad Jafar (Al Nata Co-Founder)

Ahmad has already submitted a letter of grievance but he’s certain they won’t hear it without other parties being a party to the grievance claim. So Ahmad’s asking anyone that owns or runs a restaurant that feels this law will negatively impact them to contact him directly to create a union or class action filing of sorts. To get in touch with him you could contact him on [email protected]

I didn’t try Backyard yet, I just passed by it yesterday because I was meeting with a friend but I left in complete shock at how unexpectedly beautiful the location was. Backyard is located in the Argan Business Park, a place I didn’t even know existed until a few days back. It’s a very striking and impressive glass structure located at the far end corner of the Free Trade Zone. There are no markings or any signs outside the building, and because of its heavy use of dark glass, the building could easily pass as a headquarters for a secret spy agency or the offices of Darth Vader Enterprises if such a thing existed.

Once you walk inside this complex though you’re suddenly in an open air courtyard with beautiful pools and greenery. Just gorgeous landscaping which caught me by surprise. And right there over looking the pools and greenery is a new restaurant that just recently opened called Backyard.

The chef is Bernat Rodriguez Candel which some of you might know of if you have any friends at C Club since he’s also responsible for the restaurant over there. Chef Barnat is also now responsible for Backyard and flipping through the menu I caught a few things that I’d want to go back and try. I wish I knew about this place last week when the weather was still cool during the day but it shouldn’t be that bad right now if you go in the afternoon. They also have indoor seating but really it’s their outdoor seating that I found very serene. Right now they’re open from Saturday to Thursday, 8AM to 6PM, here is their location on [Google Maps] and here is a link to their instagram account @backyardkw

OVO, not to be confused with Drake’s record label, is a new vegan and vegetarian restaurant that opened up in Bneid Al-Gar around two weeks back. They’re located inside the Massaleh Complex and they have a pretty great outdoor seating thats secluded from the rest of the surrounding area.

More than 80% of their menu items are vegan or vegetarian but they also have some flexitarian options (food with meat) for those tagging along with vegans or vegetarians. I took a couple of photos of their current temporary menu so you can get an idea of what kind of food they serve. You can check it out [Here] and [Here]

Even though they’re currently in a soft launch phase and they’re still adding and fixing stuff on their menu, I’d definitely recommend passing by since the weather is amazing and you don’t want to miss out on their outdoor area before it gets too warm.

Finding their location might be a bit tricky though since they’re hidden off the main road. OVO is located inside the Massaleh Complex, so you’re going to have to park your car, and then take some side stairs to the back of the complex to find it, but if you follow this [Google Maps] link you shouldn’t have any difficulties. In case you get lost you can call them on 22575324/22575374 or visit their isntagram page @ovokwt

That area of Bneid Al-Gar is shaping up to be a healthy area with Alive Yoga and Healthy Feast both located nearby.

Elevation Burger is opening up a new location on the Seef Strip in place of where Pintxos used to be. I’m curious to see if Elevation will be able to break the curse of that location since everything that has opened in that spot never ended up doing well.

Tonight is the final night of the Green Caravan Film Festival and it’s going to take place on the rooftop of CAP (Contemporary Art Platform). Other than short films there will also be live music and food tonight.

If you’ve never been to the rooftop of CAP it’s a great venue and the weather is perfect for it right now. Tickets cost KD5 and are available [Here]

For a map and more details of the event, click [Here]

My brother spotted the vulture above in the trunk of a Chevy Trailblazer while waiting at a stop light a few days back. So random.

Yesterday evening I was invited to the launch of the book “Modern Architecture Kuwait 1949-1989” that was held at Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah in Yarmouk. I really didn’t ask any questions about the event before I went since I’ve been wanting to get my hands on the book ever since I found out about it last year. So when one of the book authors invited me to the launch, I just went no questions asked. What I didn’t know was that there was going to be a presentation by Mr. Khalid al-Essa, the former Minister of Public Works and Dr. Ibrahim al-Shaheen, the former General Director of Public Authority of Housing and former Minister of Municipal Affairs. Both those presenters were around and involved during Kuwait’s architectural rise and once their presentation was over they took part in a panel discussion.

For those of you that have following the blog for awhile now you already know my obsession with Kuwait’s past and so I felt extremely lucky to be in attendance last night listening to the stories of how Kuwait went from mud buildings to having world renowned architects like Kenzo Tange, Jørn Utzon and I. M. Pei involved in local projects. Listening to the two of them talk last night reminded me again how truly young Kuwait is.

The book “Modern Architecture Kuwait 1949-1989” is a combined effort by Roberto Fabbri, Sara Saragoça Soares and Ricardo Camacho. It involves over two years of investigative research as well as gorgeous photography taken by the gifted architectural photographer Nelson Garrido who travelled across Kuwait to document over 150 buildings that are featured in the book. The buildings are divided into four categories:

Specimens I – building as infrastructure: 1949-1960
Specimens II – building as national identity: 1961-1979
Specimens III – building as cityscape: 1971-1979
Specimens IV – building as programme: 1980-1989

As you can imagine, the book if fairly thick but with the amount of constant demolishing of old buildings taking place in Kuwait, its important to document as many buildings as possible before it’s too late.

The book costs KD22 and is available on Amazon [Link] and also at the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah bookshop in Yarmouk [Map]. If you have the slightest interest in architecture, design or Kuwait’s past then you should definitely get one.

This morning the architectural and design magazine Dezeen ran a piece on the book along with around 20 photos. Check it out, their article has a lot more details and the photos will give you a general idea of what to expect inside the book. Here is the [Link]

Since summer is knocking on our doorsteps this is the perfect time to post about the Cuisinart ice cream maker I recently purchased (the Cuisinart ICE-30BC).

I’ve recently been trying out the ketogenic diet after hearing about it on one of the podcasts I listen to and the main principle of the diet is you’re not supposed to consume any sugar or any carbs but you’re supposed to have lots of fat. Avocados are one great way of introducing a lot of fat into your diet but I personally don’t like the way they taste. So I was looking for a simple keto recipe that involved avocados and I found one for an avocado chocolate chunk ice cream that sounded delicious. I had honestly been looking for an excuse to buy an ice cream maker for a while so as soon as I found the recipe I decided to get one.

I kinda already knew what I wanted a Cuisinart ice cream maker since I’m fond of the brand and I knew I had seen them in Kuwait. So I did my research and the only places that carried the ice cream maker were Lakeland, Williams-Sonoma and Tavola (the Cuisinart dealer). Williams-Sonoma only had the dual ice cream maker which I wasn’t interested in since it was too big, Lakeland had the model I wanted but they were selling it for KD42 while Tavola were selling the exact same one for KD32.350. So I ended up picking it up from Tavola and since I was already in Shuwaikh, I decided to pass by Williams-Sonoma to pick up the best ice cream scoop you can buy, the Zeroll 1020.

The way the ice cream maker works is very simple. There are two main parts, the bowl and the main unit. You take the bowl and stick it in the freezer for 12+ hours and only take it out when you want to make ice cream. When your mixture is ready and the bowl frozen, you take the bowl from the freezer and place it in the main unit. You then pour your mixed ingredients into the bowl and let the ice cream maker churn your mixture for around 20 minutes until it turns into ice cream. Thats all there is to it.

I have to say, my avocado chocolate chunk ice cream has been turning out really delicious. And because I am buying the ingredients, I can control how healthy my ice cream is and so I’m having it guilt free. At KD32 this really is a no brainer impulse buy. So if you feel like making your own ice cream this summer, get this. Here is the map to Tavola [Google Maps] and you could call them on 24825761.