People always say, negara padang pasir kot Q8 ni! mana de shopping complex grand grand?? My oh my there were wrong. In here, tak kurang hebat shopping mall der. In fact, there's few designer brand outlet or retailer yang takde kat Malaysia ade kat sini. Some of it, aku tak pernah dengar or rather pernah dengar tapi x reti nk pronounce hahaha.. One thing I noticed, adults designer boutique will comes with kids boutique of it's own. Contoh, they have Ralph Lauren kids boutique, Burberry Kids Boutique and many more. Zara clothing comes with Zara Home Centre. I couldn't even afford to wear Zara blouse left alone nak beli rug cap Zara huuhuhuh.. Different case for Kuwaitis of course. What else ek, ohh Pottery Barn for adults furniture and Pottery Barn for kids furniture in different store respectively. Maybe someday Jimmy Choo kids pun ade kat sini sebab Jimmy Choo dah ade :)

From my reading and from hearsay, there's few Kuwaitis pastime activities based on season and month. Like during winter and spring, they like to camp. It's like biggest pastime among Kuwaitis it's like a festival. They will set up camp in the middle of desert. Of course those allowed one by the government as Q8 still has a few reminders of The Gulf War, even till today. Some of the houses with traces from the war still can be seen as a living example of the Gulf wars scars and one there's still a case of people found unexploded ordnance or in short, active bomb in the desert. Scaryyyyy..

Currently, as it's summer here, and at times, it can reach 50 degree during day, of course the activities during weekends change as well. Some fact I've read in travel guide, Q8 summer climate can be compared to the dry omitted from an oven when you're cooking your Sunday roast. Easier comparison, seperti berdiri belakang with engine on. Good thing is Q8 is rather low humidity country so it's not like Malaysia. We dun sweat like we used too during hot sunny day back home. Macam orang cakap, musim panas kat Gulf country ni tak mandi seminggu pun takper. Tak berpeluh. Betul seyhhhhh !! ( am taking my daily shower ehhh, sweating or not, x reti la tak mandi ni hahaha ). So since temperature was high outside, people like to spend days inside where it's more cooler. Since Jumaat public holidays kat sini, can be seen all Kuwaitis flooding most of the shopping mall here. As a foreigner, this is a good environment if you wanna see ragam warga warga Kuwait. Best way to get to the local flavor, so to speak.

Back to topic, pengalaman ku yang tak seberapa ni menjelajah shopping2 spot in Q8.

| Al-Kout Mall and market |

Al Kout Mall just like other malls. Located just by the seaside. Sangat cantek the scenery. Macam macam kedai ade. Most designer outlet ade kat sini. There's few restaurant can be found here also if you feel like eating, there's a lot of option here. Else, there's food court here for alternative. 1st time here we tried Asian Thailand restaurant in their food court. They have variety of lauks you can choose to paired with your white rice or Beriyani. Owhhh for those who doesn't know, beriyani here is a must, staple food more like it. Everything will come with beriyani. Be it Thai food, Chinese food, Indian food or western. You can opt for white rice though if u dun feel like eating beriyani.


- nasi puteh with 2 jenis lauk each set. Cost around 6 KD ( RM 72 ). Portion here ikut tekak orang Arab so satu set boley share 2-3 orang.


- This is illegal indeed. You must ask permission before taking pic of any Kuwaitis and mst building here doesn't allowed photoraphing but just for the sake of showing sample, no harm done. If u can see their plate, satu pinggan ade dekat sekilo mee, not sharing okay. Kire sorang makan je ni. After this, Mr husband came with another plate of shawarma like segunung tinggi de. That's how big their portion are. -


- Selingan, lunch on our arrival day. Turkish Grill, sedap tak tahu nak kata camne. Budak budak ni suke gile kubbus ni ( roti arab). Makan begitu pun sodap kata mereka -

Just opposite Al-Kout Mall,Fahaheel, located pasar. You can get all your grocery needss here. Again, it's divided into few sections. Section selling barang kering where you can get all kinds of vegetables, fruits, milks, biscuits, cooking oil, butter, spices. segala mak neka lah. When talking about sayuran, not much varieties sebab mostly Arabian makan timun, daun basil, carrot and onion in almost their meals. Timun de pun bukan macam kite punye timun. tak tahu la jenis aper tapi kulit de ijau pekat. Mostly made into pickles. They're like American . They have things for pickles. Sume jadik jeruk. Timun jeruk, carrot jeruk.. dan bawang is a must side dishes. Sejak duduk Q8, Erin dah terikut ikut, makan bawang merah mentah macam mkn keropok.


- cik kelapa pung adoooo.. lom kopek lagi -

Sayur yang familiar so far kangkung, bayam and bendi. Sawi tak jumpa lagi so far or maybe sawi de jenis kategori lain, aku tak cam kah kah kah. Togeh, lengkuas, daun panda, daun kari, halia, serai sume ade. Shouldn't be a problem. Daun kunyit je tak jumpa lagi. Santan de ade whether in powder base or milk base. Made in Malaysia lagi so takde masalah. Paling meriah kat sini, infact mana mana market here, are olive and cheese bar de.. I think there's more than 40 jenis olive for selections and so did cheese. Macam macam jenis, macam macam nama .. meriahhh..Ohh their selections of kacang pun variety.. Segala jenis kacang ade, gajus jek ade 5-6 jenis, walnut, almond, lentil sume ader..


- mostly, sume sayur datang dlm pacakging camni, siap ade plastic tray skali -


- the Girls main transportation. Erin perangai sungguh nak berdokong jek kat sini, so on the very 1st day outing, En Muddy beli menda ni, come very handy specially during grocery hunting, brand huduh huduh jek, amik je mana yang ade kat Centre Point tu -

Then there is Fish Market. Sesuai dengan nama nyer, jual ikan la of course hehehe. Mostly ikan besar besar. Ikan paling kecik adelah kerisi. Even selar kuning de jenis yg besar. Ikan merah ade, bawal ade, baby shark ade.. Memang segar. Udang2 de pun besar besar. They dun have small size prawn though. Crabs are available seasonally.

When i went there, happened to be I am the only lady there. Suffice to say, i drawn unwanted an unpleasant attention. Most eyes glued on me and they stares wherever i go even i'm coming with my husband. I just ignore them though to be on a safe side and not stare back like I used to be in malaysia. I am very aware that this is not my country, I'm new nere and still learning about their culture so it is best to respect local peoples and being humble all the time, even by all means, get stared along the process hahaha.. I thought my husband didn't noticed it as he didn't show any reaction, so i didn't brought to his attention, but soon as we exited the market, he sounded me in straight face and low tone, as if he was mumbling to himself : Mummy kena pakai hijab ngn abaya la keluar next time. Sume dok pandang awokk jek, dah la muka mcm arab arab skit..

I just laughed after heard him but couldn't agree more. Even my attire was fully covered and not revealing but indeed it is following my body shape. Compared to Kuwaitis ladies which fully covered from head to toe in loose robe, of course the attention was drawn to me whom lesser covered ni hahha. Wake up call sebenarnyer. Insya allah I will try to don abaya and dressed up more appropriately as a true muslimah. Insya allah, changes doesn't happen over-nite y'all.

Finally there's s meat and Chicken market. You won't get any fresher chicken elsewhere coz chicken here are sell alive. Kite pilih ayam yang berkenan di hati, they will sembelih and buang bulu. They will also cut it for you based on your request. They sell beef and lamb also. All in glassy bakalas ( corner shops) and scrupulously clean. No slippery and wet floor. You can get telur also here. They're a lot of poultry here in Q8, but so far i think the most widely known one was Naif Chicken Poultry. They even had this chain of restaurant, just like Ayamas.


- telur ayam Naif Chicken. Telur ayam sini warna putih -


| Friday Market & Lulu Hypermarket |

Friday market hv similarity with Pasar Malam kawen campur dgn Flea Market in Malaysia lah so as to say. It just that, they dun selling foods for instance. They're divided into few sections. There's section selling goods, second hand stuff and clothes, carpets n furniture, collectible items, second hand bulky item like gym's equipment, generator, industrial stoves, freezer and electronic gadgets. So many stuff to look at you won't realize time passed by. Not too worry coz there's bakalah ( small store) selling juices, waters and soft drinks in every section. Very important during summer. Rasa nye setiap section kiterang beli air hahahha .. We was left for a while by my husband as he had to leave for Friday prayer. Good thing living in country where MAsjid were plentiful. Masjid can be found everywhere and in our case, there's masjid just beside the Friday Market. Once Azan, everyone leave for prayer. Including all the shopkeeper and shop assistant. They just left it without even care to close it. Everything was left as it is. Maybe because there's seldom happened robbery or pick pocket case here. Even dalam paper pun susah nak baca pasal kes kes kecurian kat Q8 ni. Highest crime was sexual related crime like cabul, rape case dan sewaktu dengannye.. Hmmmmmmmm..


- carpet carpet mari beli carpet -


- haaaa amik , kalau beli letak kat apartment aku skang, ley cover smpi pintu lift, silap2 ade lebih lg ley cover smpi unit depan hahahahha..-


- teko aladdin -


- very classy second hand pram..hmmmm Paaaaaaa, nak yang ni !! -


- sofa arab, me likey ! -


- baju kelawar arab version -


Lulu Hypermarket : adik beradik Mydin superstore heheheh. Not really related though, it just that they share the same concept. Favourite place among foreigner's and expat to get groceries here coz it's rather cheaper than other international chain hypermarket, it does offer varieties too, just like Mydin. We found durian, rambutan and manggis here! Yeayyyyyyyy.. Can't afford to buy them though ! Booooooooo...kah kah kah.. Siyes mahal sebijik durian can reach up to RM100 lebih sebijik jadik tuan puan dan adik adik, tahan la nafsu nk makan durian smpi balik Mesia nanti. In short, Lulu hypermarket have been my favourite place to shop. I found ubi dan keledek also here. Pisang pun banyak if tiba2 teringin nk makan pengat pisang ke, pisang goreng ke..

Like yesterday, they had Mango Mania fest. 100 lebey jenis mango imported here. Juling mata tgk manga byk jenis, beribu2.. Since we ain't mango expert, we just pick those yang ramai orang kerumun. I saw one Indian uncle was picking one type of mango so I decided to copy him. All i could say, rugi amik 3 bijik je hahahaha, kalau tau sedap gile, amik 10 bijik. Oh anyway, Lulu Hypermarket from our place are quite a distances. Lebey kurang dr Puchong ke Setiawangsa so since we dun hv transport here, I planned to come here for monthly ritual groceries hunting. Duet teksi tak murah sini. From our place ( Mangaf) to Lulu, cost us 4 KD ( RM 48 ) sehala. Tazi here doesn't have meter so it could be 4 KD or 5 KD depends on the driver. Converting to RM, sehari berjalan, we need to spent around RM 100 lebey for taxi fare only. Lom masuk makan, beli barang lagi, budak2 nak ice cream la, nk pop corn la..I used to convert to RM during early days ( chehhh macam la dh 4 thn dok sini ), but i stopped as En Muddy cakap, kalau sume menda kite nk convert to RM, makna nye tak berjalan dan tak membeli lah kirenye.. Need to start learn to compare dinar to dinar, instead of dinar to RM.

Ohh one thing about being in rich country like Q8, everything will be taken care for you. Be it shopping mall or market or parking lot, there will be a porter ready to serve you. Mostly bangladesh or Indian. They will be ready incase you need them to push the trolley for you. Their service mostly used by Kuwaitis where they will be required to tailgate Kuwaitis that hired them all day with trolley so all Kuwaitis ladies have to do is just pick what they want and pay. The porter will be at their services till the goods are safely tucked inside car boot.

For us, takyah la sampai ade orang tolak kan trolley sepanjang jalan hehehe. At each cashier pun ade satu porter yang akan bungkus kan barang2 customer and arranged inside the trolley. Let say you wanna go somewhere else 1st, nak pergi makan ke, nk pergi naik tingkat atas ke, they had a service where you can leave the trolley full of goods with them and collect it back once you about to go home. Talking about being spoiled ehh. Bile dah ready nak balik, of course we will collect our purchase and headed to exit door to get a cab. Ade pulak porter tunggu, sambut trolley anta smpi teksi and help to transfer everything inside teksi boot and send the trolley back where it belong. Takyah susah susah. As i said, everything is taken care for you. I bet ade Kuwaitis ladies yang x pernah pegang pun trollet bar tu hehehe..Whaddaya think ?


- Punye spoiled, ATM pun drive thru -

| The Avenue |

Biggest shopping mall by far. It's like MidValley Mega Mall. Most all designer's brand can be found here. I found Anna Sui Clothing Boutique here. Rasa macam takde kat malaysia. Anna Sui makeup ade la slalu nampak. Correct me if I'm wrong eh. Aku tak rajin ( read : tak mampu) nak pakai branded branded sangat ni so tak tahu. Mungkin ade la Anna Sui clothing kat KL, cuma aku yang x perasan :) .

There's one scary experiences on the way to Avenue. We was stopped by the policemen. Sangat takut walau tak buat salah. All law enforcement teams are Kuwaitis so if you get stopped here by police patrol car, they won't come to you like in Malaysia or US, you have to go down and go to them. In this case, our cab was stopped because the driver, Ali was not wearing seatbelt.


- Again, it is not recommended to take photo Kuwaitis without their permission especially policemen hahaha but...arghhh it's either do or die . Alis was fine 150 KD ( RM 1800) for not wearing seatbelt. -

Talking about Ali, he's very religious and honest old man my husband known for quite sometime. De drive pun releks jek, unlike any other taxi drivers. Senang hati naik teksi de so when he was fine, macam sedeh giler macam he dun deserve it. Macam driver lain yang actually membahayakan nyawa orang lain deserve more to get fine compare to his fault. Mind you, kat sini 200 km/h hour was like 100 km/h in Malaysia and there's no fast lane or slow lane. Every lane is a fast line. Mmg mengucap panjang lah aku sepanjang aku naik public transportation kat Q8 ni. Another fact to share, it is legal to use handphone during driving so mmg meluas la penggunaan handphone kat sini sambil drive. On more thing, berdasarkan pemerhatian aku, drivers here will on their hazard light immediately in any case of emergency break occurs. En Muddy cakap, to warn drivers behind, to avoid being slammed. U wouldn't want to involved in any accident here in Q8. Sangat leceh process claimed dan sangat menguji keimanan dan kesabaran.


- tangki air Q8, belang belang lagik -

Back to Avenue story, sangat besar lah senang cite. Macam MidValley. Among many og big store can be found here was IKEA, Toy 'r' US, Debenham, AL-Ghanim ELectronic Centre yang jual Apple Ipad secara longgok jek ( trust me, main longgok je depan kedai ).

So macam biasa kalau pergi megamall mcm ni, masuk kedai kluar kedai, masuk kedai keluar kedai la jawapnyer. Tak de beli ape sangat pun kalau tak silap coz dah beli barang2 dapur a day before kat Lulu. We had lunch at IKEA sebab tempat lain sangat packed with Kuwaitis. Bought a dozen of Krispy Kreme, then jalan jalan.

Actually our main purpose coming to Avenue sebab nk carik Blue Ray Avatar. We bought one in Malaysia already sebelum datang Kuwait. Unfortunately, En Muddy punye PS3 tak boley baca due to reason the region was incompatible. Malaysia falls under Region B while Gulf countries was set as Region A & C. Ehhh ke terbalik? Tak ingat lak tapi lebey kurang camtu lah. So tak boley baca. Need to get blue Ray from same region hence pergi The Avenue. dah carik kat Alghanmim Eletronic Centre takde, so pergi pulak Carrefour. Unfortunately, eventhough Q8 was a very rich country, Malaysia was way advance in some aspect. Errrr in most aspect to be exact. Derang macam 5 tahun kebelakang from Malaysia. Contoh nyer, their buildings, road system, entertainment and many more.

Sufficed to say, they dun have Avatar Blue Ray here. To be truth, tak sampai lg ke Q8. Well it's expected though sebab even international magazines will only reach here 4 months after the publication date. Senang citer, kalau tiba2 Jennifer Aniston kawen baru, 4 bulan lepas tu baru aku tau cite. How bout that ? All in all, ade 4 pcs jek Blue Ray kat Blue Ray rack de. Sedey sungguh menengok nyer uhuhuhhu. Tiba tiba rindu kedai DVD kat Puchong !!!

Since dah takder Blue Ray edition, we took the next best thing. Avatar DVD version. Jadik la kan dari takde !! Small arguments happened here that caused Alis to melalak tak hengat. She want DVD Michael Jackson (the ever so famous This is it) cost around 7 KD ( RM 84. The problem is we had spent a lot beli groceries and few household so En Muddy informed Alis that her Jacko have to wait till next gaji. Of course she didn't agree and throw tantrums. En Muddy bertegas tak nak mengalah and so did Alis. Yang kene memujuk of course mummy la kan. Tension sungguhhhhhhhh...

End result, de tetap tak dapat DVD tu hahahhhaa. Muncung jangan tak panjang laaaaa. I just ignored her coz I do agree she need to learn that she can't have anything she want. At times, she need to learn to be patient. Then aku amik fresh milk skit, roti sikit, ready made margharita pizza satu then off we go to counter to pay.

Di sebabkan barang yang kiterang beli not more than 10, so we headed to express counter la kan. Cepat skit. Bile sampai kat kaunter express tu aku bertembung dgn deejay bertugas that day. He was speaking in Arabic, holding a microphone and doing his deejay thing. De lalu just sebelah kiterang and heading to big colourful wheel situated estimately 5 meter from us. Ala like the one in Wheel of Fortune tu. The wheel have a lot of colours and numbers. Tak tahu pulak numbers tu represent ape. It could be some ticket number or lucky number we had to ballot somewhere else. I dunno, it could be anything. Rupanye they celebrating Carrefour's 3rd Anniversary so mcm ade cabutan bertuah. The problem is i dun know the cabutan base on what sebab the deejay was clearly speaking Arabic explaining about the so called cabutan. Aku paham de nak pusing wheel tu pun sebab de kira 1.....2.....3..... rollllllll.... Excited nak tgk sapa yang kenaaaaa so I kept focus on the wheel. The pointer stopped at number 20. Then the deejay was pointing at us and everyone started looking at us and clapping their hands. Hmmm... En Muddy masa ni tgh sebuk nak bayar barang yang kiterang beli and wasn't paying any attention to what's happening around us, but the filipino cashier kept saying u won... u won.. It's counter 20. Rupanye number number tu adelah number kaunter and indeed we're are at counter 20..

Weeeeeehhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.. Never been lucky in any lucky draws before in own country home. Turned out nasib menyebelahi kami di negara orang alhamdulillah. The deejay then approached En Muddy, tanye nama and from which country we came from and then Carrefour manager came, congratulate us and asking for some ID or passports. The deejay then announced that as our winning prize today, we can have anything we purchased for free. Do not have to pay for any single dinars. Ini lah saat nye bile terdetik dalam hati aku, dammmmm if only we did our monthly groceries HERE ! TODAY ! . Major rugi wehhh. We can spent up to 40 KD and yet our purchased today that we won was only 7 KD huuhuhuuhh.. Seperkara lagi yang terdetik adelah, sepatut nye aku sebelahkan Alis instead of being natural party. Kalau tak free free jek balik ni dah boley tgk This is it ! Ingat kan aku sorang, rupa rupanye En Muddy pun cam menyesal tak amik jek DVD tu tadi.

Moral of the stories is : Mungkin ade hikmah kalau anak anda mengamuk tak tentu hala. Lenkali jangan kedekut dgn anak ! Lenkali Alis nak ape ape , amik lah Alis.. nak Workswagen beetle pun boleyyyyyyyyyyy( batting eyelashes )