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This video was uploaded back in April but I just saw it now. It looks ginormous. The new hospital should be completed by 2018. [YouTube]

Thanks lovelykuwait

Last week I decided I wanted some of my car parts foiled matt black. Foiling is a process where your car gets covered in a sticker like material, it’s an alternative to painting since its temporary. My FJ Cruiser had some grey colored parts which I wanted to turn black but I didn’t want to paint them incase I didn’t like the outcome. So I called a friend asking for a good foiling place and he instead recommended I get the parts Plasti Dipped at a place in Shuwaikh called Ma-Fra.

Plasti Dip falls somewhere in between painting and foiling since it has traits from both. You apply Plasti Dip to your car like paint (as in you spray it), but unlike paint, when you get bored you can peel Plasti Dip off like a sticker just as you would with foiling.

I passed by Ma-Fra on Thursday and got an appointment for Saturday morning. I had also gotten some new silver colored wheels for my car which I wanted to paint in bronze so I decided to get them Plasti Dipped as well. When dropping my car off at Ma-Fra on Saturday I found out they did detailing so had them go ahead and detail my car as well since I was planning on doing that anyway somewhere else.

Plasti Dip is fairly durable as long as you don’t scratch it or peel it off. It’s supposed to last for at least three years although I’m not sure they’ll last that long on my wheels. So how did it turn out?

I dropped my car off Saturday at 9AM and ended up picking up the car the next day at 2PM all painted and shiny. If it wasn’t for the detailing I would have been able to pick up the car on the same day, that’s whats to great about Plasti Dip, it’s fast to do. The parts I blacked out turned out great and blended really well with the rest of the black plastic parts on the car. The wheels also turned out better than I expected.

If you’re wondering how much it cost, I ended up paying KD150 for everything. Originally they wanted KD60 to paint the 9 different parts of my car black, KD50 to paint the wheels (KD10 per wheel) and another KD60 for the detailing. So I basically got a KD20 discount. They also sell cans of Plasti Dip for KD4 a pop if you’re interested to do the work yourself (it’s fairly easy but the masking process is a pain).

Ma-Fra is located in Shuwaikh behind Abyat, here is their location on [Google Maps]

Hello everyone! I am very excited to be able to write on 248AM. I am a clinical nutritionist that has worked in various areas including food safety, pediatrics and now do a variety of work with adults. I understand that nutrition can be a confusing subject and many of us have different opinions of food and health.  My goal is to help you all make an  informed decision to achieve a better and healthier life!

Many of us are health conscious and sometimes can’t help but feel deceived once looking at the nutrition label properly. They aren’t the easiest to figure out, some are complicated while others are simply deceiving. Here are a few tips to help you navigate through that nutrition label the next you pick up packaged food.

1. Serving size is KEY! Many manufacturers use the smallest serving size possible to lure you into a lesser caloric amount. You’d be surprised to know that you could be having 5 or more servings by consuming the entire food in your package. To be more accurate with calculating your calories, proteins or fats make sure you check how many servings their information covers, as well as how many servings you’re going to eat.
2. Calories are not everything. Although many of us believe that this number could be the most important on the nutrition label, but you could be wrong. Where your calories are coming from is far more important. Try to avoid foods that have a bulk of their calories coming from saturated or trans fats or sugars. Also, keep in mind that “Calorie-Free” means less than 5 calories per serving, this number could add up depending on how many calories you choose to indulge in.
3. Fats are important, but not only for how many calories they provide but more so for which type of fat is being used in your food item. You want to make sure your fats are not coming from saturated or trans fats (they lower the good cholesterol and increase the bad ones). Instead opt for a product that contains more unsaturated fats, and definitely don’t be fooled by a “Zero Fat” label on the package. According to the recent regulations you can now place a “Zero Fat” label in your package if it contains less than 0.5g fat per SERVING! (Again serving plays a big role here)
4. Carbohydrates could be both good or bad. Instead of focusing on how many grams of carbohydrates you food item is provide, I suggest you look at the source of carbohydrates. Is it mostly sugar? Or is the bulk of your carbohydrate intake coming from fiber? Anything with less than 0.5g sugar per serving is legally labeled as “Sugar-Free.” As for the fiber, you should aim to get more than 3g per serving (especially in cereals and whole grains).
5. Ingredients are, in my humble point of view, the most important piece of information you can get out of a nutrition label. Foods in an ingredient list are listed from highest content level to the lowest; therefore if sugar, dextrose, or high fructose corn syrup are one of the first 3 ingredients on that list expect to be consuming a high sugar food. It is important that you recognize the foods listed because ultimately you are what you eat!

I personally believe that buying food items that do not require any food labels (fresh fruits, vegetables) is much easier and healthier than buying processed or packaged ones. Either way, make sure you read that label to make your informed decision.

“I think about food because you can’t think without it”

Post by Hyatt Al Sayegh, a Clinical Dietitian and Dr. Sears Health Coach.
Founder of Fork Fed.

Photo Source

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ comes out next Thursday (the 17th) here in Kuwait, a day before the US launch. Me and my friends booked tickets yesterday since Grand Cinemas have already started selling them. When we booked last night the theater was fairly empty but I just checked now and it’s filling up pretty quickly (at least the 7:30PM showing). So if you want to catch the premier of Star Wars in Kuwait you should head over to the Grand Cinemas website and book your tickets [Link]

Dinosaur is a local short film that was produced back in 2013 but due to it being entered in some film festivals, it just became available for the public to watch online a few days ago. The film is directed by Meqdad Al-Kout who’s behind another popular local film, Mustache (Shanab). Dinosaur follows a government employee who is trying to change his job title to a higher position before retiring.

I have mixed feelings about the film, overall I liked it but I did find some of the scenes a bit cheesy and I really didn’t like the film visually. But Dinosaur did have some hilarious moments with my favorite being at 15:43 minutes into the film when the employee walks into an office full of niqab ladies. There are a bunch of great moments like that in the film which made me enjoy it overall. The film is in Arabic but has English subtitles. It’s also not too long just 20 minutes so if you’ve got the time check it out on [Vimeo]

Areej International Est. is a small business that has been around since 1994 supplying gourmet products to restaurants, hotels and hypermarkets. Last week they decided to launch a website so they could sell their items directly to consumers. I checked it out and I don’t think I’ve run into their products/brands anywhere in Kuwait before which is a good thing since it makes their website more useful.

If you’re interested, check out their website [Here]

“Ghaseel” is an app that allows you to order and pay for a car wash using your phone. The way it works is fairly simple, after signing up and filling your address, you proceed to order a car wash. You choose your date and time you want them to come and wash your car and then you’ll get a list of different companies that are available at your specified time. You choose the company and package you want and then check out and pay.

It’s not a bad idea at all but there are a few things I think they can do to make it even better. Firstly the way the different carwash packages are featured is not very consistent. Some are written in Arabic, some English, some are very detailed information wise while others are very vague. It makes the app feel very amateurish. Secondly there is no rating system. So if you had a good or bad experience with one of the carwash companies there is no way of let other users know.

Still not a bad first attempt. The app is only available for iOS devices at the moment and is free to download from the App Store by searching for “Ghaseel” or by visiting their website [Here]

The rumors are true, the popular Thai food restaurant Pataya Beach is for sale. Turns out the shop owner no longer wants to rent out the space to Pataya and instead is looking to sell the spot. So Pataya Beach will remain open until the location is sold. There is no closing date, if the shop gets sold tomorrow then Pataya closes tomorrow, if the shop gets sold in two months then thats when they will close down. I asked them if they would be moving to another location once the shop gets sold but it seems that they don’t want to and instead will leave Kuwait once the shop gets sold and they close down.

A lot of people consider Pataya the best Thai food restaurant in Kuwait (I personally don’t) and so it would be sad if they closed down. I asked them if they would be interested in selling the business, to have someone take over the brand if they wanted to leave and they seemed open to the idea. In any case, if you’ve never tried Pataya Beach then you probably should before they close down for good. They’re located on the mezzanine floor of Al-Dawliyah Complex (behind the old Kuwait Airways building). Here is a link to their building on [Google Maps]

A new restaurant opened up in Salmiya called Bon Voyage that serves airplane food. I personally think this is like the worst idea since plane food generally sucks but if you’re into plane food then I guess you’re in luck. [Link]

Not sure how to begin this post, I’ve already written and deleted a few intros already because I didn’t think anything I was writing was good enough to explain what I saw a few hours ago. I don’t even think my pictures do the place any justice. Last week a friend of mine told me about a new gym that was opening up in Murooj called The Burrow Life. I checked their instagram account out of curiosity and right away realized there was something special about them. From their branding to the style of photography they were using I knew they were aiming for something different. I got in touch with them and asked if I could pass by and check the place out, they agreed so I passed by earlier today.

The first thing they wanted to make clear to me was that The Burrow Life wasn’t just a gym, it was a lifestyle brand and I knew exactly what they meant. Although they’re starting off as a gym the brand could grow and develop later on into other things like a clothing line or a restaurant or a whatever and I liked that approach. Their name and concept for the place is based off of Alice in Wonderland, when Alice went down the rabbit hole she entered a completely different world and they’re applying the same idea here. When I walked into The Burrow Life I was transported into a completely different world and it was beautiful on the other side.

The Burrow Life is focused around 5 different fitness activities, cross fit, bootcamp, boxing/Muay Thai, spinning and yoga. They’re all class based activities so as a member you’ll have to download their app and see what classes are available during the day and sign up for them. It’s a mixed gym but the classes are segregated, so guys could be doing cross fit while girls could be boxing at the same time, but you wouldn’t have guys and girls doing the same cross fit class together.

The space is HUGE, when you first walk into the gym you walk into a living room like area since they didn’t want you to walk into a reception like all gyms do. From there you have a yoga room and then a really long corridor with a guys locker room on the left and a girls one on the right. There are showers and changing rooms of course but a cool feature is the lockers that all have USB ports inside so you could charge your phone while you train. At the end of the long corridor there are two glass rooms, on the left a spinning room and on the right a training room with kettle bells and TRX. Once you leave the corridor you enter a really large open space with a boxing ring in the middle, cross fit stations on the left, punching bags all along the right and some weight stations on the opposite end behind the ring. Finally there are stairs that take you up to the top floor where the bootcamp training section is along with a lounge for members to sit and chill while they wait for their classes or just to socialize. The place looks amazing and as I mentioned earlier, my pictures really don’t do it any justice.

The Burrow Life is set to open this coming Saturday. They’re only going to offer semi annual and annual memberships. I can’t say how much the cost is since that’s the only thing they didn’t want me to mention in my post but I can say it’s very similar to Inspire. Personally I think this is by far, and I mean BY FAR the best looking gym in Kuwait and the best looking gym I’ve personally ever seen be it in person or in photos anywhere. Sometimes pictures make a place look better than it actually is but I’m telling you in this case my photos really don’t do the place any justice. It looks much better in person. I’ve literally been sending these pictures to every gym goer I know telling them how great the place looks. Anyway, I’ve got all the photos I took below but also make sure you check out their instagram account for more details [Here]

So Burger & Lobster finally opened up in Kuwait and guess what? Their prices surprisingly are similar to that in London. You can order a burger, lobster or lobster roll for just KD8.950. I think that makes them the cheapest place to get lobster in Kuwait, no idea how they managed to make it so affordable but better for us. [Link]

Update: Just found out they’re opened by Gourmania International, same company that has Sakura and Fauchon.

Update2: I passed by and had the lobster roll for lunch. It was pretty good and similar to the one in London (ask for the lemon garlic sauce). They also have a combo option where you could order the three dishes, the burger, lobster and lobster roll for around KD26 and also get a dessert for free. Not bad.

The Cross Cultural Diwaniya is making its debut at Nuqat this year and I’ve been asked along with Ascia and Dr Scully (Dana Scully??) Dr. Nicholas Scull to take part as guests in the diwaniya. This years Nuqat theme is the “Copy+Paste Syndrome” so the Cross Cultural Diwaniya will look at how copying and pasting personalities and lifestyles affects the lives of the average person while also looking at how it affects the lives of high profile bloggers.

The discussion will start with me and the other guests telling our stories on how we became well-known and then the moderator will kick off the discussion by asking us questions on how our lifestyles influence those of the people that follow us.

The Cross Cultural Diwaniya will be taking place this coming Friday 13th at 12:45PM at the Amricani Cultural Centre. So if you’re looking for something to do this Friday after breakfast, come by this lecture. There are a bunch of other cool lectures taking place on the same day and they’re all free. To see the Nuqat schedule for Friday and to register, click [Here]

The UK Week of Culture is going to take place in Kuwait starting from tomorrow. They’ll be holding a bunch of public events over the next week which I’ve listed below so make sure you check them out:

Zoe Rahman Trio – Monday November 9 – Al Shaheed Park
Tom Warner – Tuesday November 10 – National Library of Kuwait
Heliosphere – Wednesday November 11 – Marina Crescent
Paper Cinema – Thursday November 12 – Salmiya Theater
Gandini Workshop – Friday November 13 – Avenues
Gandini – Saturday November 14 – Salmiya Theater

For more information click [Here]

Note: All these events are free to attend.

According to their Kuwait instagram page, as of this post Burger & Lobster at the Avenues are set to open in just 9 days. As I’ve previously mentioned, Burger & Lobster’s menu consists of just 3 dishes, a hamburger, a whole lobster and a lobster roll. All three dishes are priced the same, £20 in the UK and $20 in the US so I’m still curious to know what the pricing will be like in Kuwait. To check out some teaser photos of the place plus keep track of their launch date check out their instagram page [Here]

This morning while visiting Avenues I noticed they had installed x-ray scanners at various entry points around the mall. Coming up from the underground parking there was only a security guard with a metal detector wand but when coming in from any of their ground floor entrances you now have to put your bags in an x-ray machine. Arraya and Salhiya have also both installed metal detectors at their entrances as well.

I’m guessing this heightened mall security is because of the mosque bombing that took place back in June.