Mafi Mushkila

We drove to the Embassy of People’s Republic of China in the morning on June 29th to pick up the visa for our upcoming China trip. The driving on the highway was like an XBOX racing game! I did scream out of fear several times, as ExploreMan drove like the locals too (He got his new SUV from his company two days ago.)! In general I think all the vehicles on the road are bigger and newer than the ones in North America, so it is easy for the drivers to accelerate faster. Most of them are large size SUVs.

There was a line up in the Embassy and it was amazing to see many men in long white Kuwaiti consumes in the line. I wondered if they would enjoy their trips to China and if they would wear the traditional clothing there too. Wish them the best to China!

Later we drove through the residential area to Midas furniture store. The sizes of the houses are really HUUUUGE!

We decided to go to Midas wholesale center for our furniture hunt. We bought nine various styles of book/library shelves and bathroom cabinets for only 247 KD ($890 CAN)! It is about at least half of the price in Calgary. There are several streets that line up with many furniture stores close by. Most of them are run by East Indians, Iranians and Egyptians. We bought a beautiful shoe rack made in Malaysia for 45 KD and a night table for only 9 KD! And no TAX! And the shopping is like treasure hunting and is fun. And the price includes the delivering and installation! Can you believe it?

I always ask for permission for taking photos or their nationality with smiles, the answer was always “Mafi Mushkila (Arabic for “no problems”). The Midas service guy is from Palestine; the fancy villa furniture store clerk is from Egypt; and the shoe rack store man is from Karalla, India! See how many people have I ever met in short two days!

After shopping, we were extremely hungry. ExploreMan drove us to Sultan Wholesale Store that is like Kuwaiti version of the combination of Costco and farmers market. I love the store so much immediately! At the food corner, we ordered lamb rice that contains all kinds of spices, cilantro, raisin and etc. It tasted like home made dish! I’ve never had such great lamb rice before, although ExploreMan know how to make it. The most interesting thing was the sandwich making. There was a slow spinning meat roster at the corner and a guy stood there waiting and cutting the meat (either lamb or chicken) off the roaster and mixed it with herbs before wrapping them into fresh breads. There were two ovens too there! One is made of brick with fire inside a huge hole where freshly made bread lying on the oven floor; and another is made of clay and the breads were patted into the roof of the oven belly. Yum… We paid 5.3 KD ($19 CAN) for 3 Pepsi, 1 bottled water, 3 boxes of lamb rice, 1 salad and 4 wrapped sandwiches! What a deal! Bottled water is extremely cheap in Kuwait. A 600 ml Aquafina is only 20 cents (CAN). Local made water’s price is even more competitive with the similar quality. Bathroom tissue paper doubles the price of Calgary’s. I love the bulk food section, where I found all kinds of spices, and grains. I hope they keep the habit of having less processed food here in Kuwait. In general, grocery shopping is much more fun over here and the goods are much healthier.

In the evening, ExploreMan and I walked about 30 minutes along the Coastal Road. The dry warm air was so comfortable that I did not even know it was 38 degree. We went into two bakery stores that have all kinds of beautiful sweets and chocolates. I also saw a couple of beautiful women in black silk Hijab too. They walked and talked slowly with elegant manner. I felt suddenly that I was too casually dressed (Capri and T-shirt) and not appropriate for the store. It was such a beautiful evening! I fell in love with Kuwait!