Chatime in Kuwait

I've always been a fan of shakes and tea since I was a kid. In the Philippines, we have this local ice cold drinks of different fruit puree, powdered milk and juice that is mixed with tapioca shells (gulaman/sago). Because of its popularity, companies started to create commercialized products and sell them of at food stalls for a good price. This kind of drink is really popular during the summer season and since the Philippines is a tropical country, people would always want to quench their thirst with something nice and cold.

On my way home last night, a friend recommended for us to drop by a new franchised store that serves different kinds of ice cold milk tea. I've known the brand in the Philippines so when I found out they finally had one here in Kuwait, we went there eagerly to try out their best sellers.

Since I'm a fan of green tea, I ordered Matcha with Red Bean Milk Tea with Coffe Jellies drink for only 1.750KD and my boyfriend had his Taro (Ub) Milk Tea with Rainbow Jellies. The taste of my drink really reminded me of what a milk shake with tapioca shells (sago) should taste like. My Matcha drink has this authentic oriental tea taste and gives you that perfect combination of sweetness that you would want to drink again and again! Add the fact that the crew were all Filipinos and the owner, who is a Kuwaiti, Dr. Adel was very nice and friendly. He even gave us 20% discount when we ordered 3 drinks and also took a picture with us while having our refreshing drinks!

With the owner of Chatime Kuwait, Dr. Adel

If you want to have the same experience, be sure to drop by Chatime Kuwait located at Fayzah Complex Block 4 Street 114 Shop 8 near Jollibee Farwaniya or contact them at 69977575. Just mention PinayDiaspora when ordering your drinks and for sure you'll get more discounts. :)

You can also follow them at their official FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER accounts by clicking the links.

Streets of Kuwait: Part 1

My Dad, who is a frequent traveller would always tell me that "in order to really feel what it's like to be in a new place, it's always good to check out where the locals would go." This of course would instantly tell me to go and search for the hotspots where everyone would hangout with, but obviously  that would either be the gazillion restaurants in Kuwait, numerous malls, theme parks or the long stretch of Marina bay. (Note: Kuwait is a coastal country) But instead, what my Dad really wants to tell me was to be in places were the locals would really be found...where culture would be very evident.

First stop.. the Mosque. Unfortunately though, I'm not a Muslim so it would be weird for me to go in there and take pictures. Although there's a foreign-based group here called the AWARE CENTER that cater tour guides for expats. It so happens that my schedule just couldn't fit  theirs. Maybe next time..haha.

And yes..the Wet market. Interestingly, all the salesmen wear white labcoats and the whole fish market was centralized with AC. That's a new thing for me because back in Manila, only supermarkets have centralized ACs. But this is a public wet market! But what's the best thing? You can buy cheap chunks of big fish like Tuna, Blue Marlin, etc for only less than 1.5KD a kilo.

Cakes

One thing I learned about the locals here when it comes to food..they have a sweet tooth. Which was definitely cool since I, myself, is a self-confessed sweet lover. Two days ago during our flat mates' birthday, we gave her a chocolate cake from Mr. Baker (in Jabriya) as a gift. It was a simple medium-sized round cake that only cost us around 6 KD. A great thing was that the staff were all Filipinos and their warm smile just adds the "sweetness" of the atmosphere. This is not a form of advertising but I'm just a proud Pinoy at heart.


After uploading a few files from my camera to my computer, I saw the other pictures that I took of the other cakes that I tasted since coming here (the first two below were from La Baguette). Boy, they were all yummy and the designs were intricately done!