2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Aesop is a premium Australian skincare brand known for its clean design, plant-based formulas, and beautifully designed stores. Yesterday, they put up an ‘opening soon’ hoarding at The Avenues, and I’m really excited about it.

I’m a huge fan of the brand and currently have a stockpile of their products at home since I tend to buy bottles of their hand soap and aromatique room sprays every time I travel. To finally have a store here where I can just walk in and pick something up is going to feel so weird. I’ve actually always been confused as to why Bloomingdale’s didn’t carry Aesop in Kuwait, especially since their Dubai branch had it.

The first Aesop store in Kuwait is opening right next to Le Labo, where Tribe of 6 used to be. Aesop and Le Labo are pretty much competitors since they offer similar products at similar price points. That’s why I find it surprising that Alshaya let Aesop take that spot.

I don’t know when they’re opening or who brought them to Kuwait, so if you know, reach out to me.

If you want to check out some of my favorite Aesop interiors, I shared a bunch in my Instagram post.

The Ministry of Interior has set a new validity period for driving licenses. If you’re Kuwaiti the driving license is valid for 15 years while if you’re an expat it’s valid for 5 years. Used to be 10 years before for expats then they decided to make it 1 year for some reason which overwhelmed the traffic departments, 5 years now doesn’t seem to bad and at least we can now get the physical copies again. Link

Jazeera Airways just kicked off their Mega Sale that starts today and lasts till July 31st.

100,000 seats are up for grabs starting at just KD 14 one way. The offer covers a wide range of destinations across the Middle East, Central and South Asia, Africa, and Europe. The travel window is from August 1 to September 30, making it perfect for an end-of-summer escape or a quick weekend trip somewhere new.

This offer is only for a few days and just 100,000 seats so if you want to take advantage of the deal book through their application or head to jazeeraairways.com

Every photo of the new hall and surrounding buildings at Kuwait University’s Shadadiya campus looks like a rendering, but they’re not. They’re real.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), one of the most influential architecture, engineering, and urban planning firms in the world, and in collaboration with Kuwaiti artist Farah Behbehani, the new hall called The Pearl is part of the university’s administration facilities.

Farah designed the shading structures, reimagining the traditional mashrabiya in a contemporary way by using calligraphic geometry to create façades that play with light, respond to the climate, and reflect cultural memory.

The Pearl sits between the administration building and the library, and houses a 1,600-seat theater used for major events like student orientation, graduations, and performances throughout the year.

From the SOM website: The Pearl is enclosed by thousands of sun-shading panels arranged in a complex geometry. The panel design spells out the Arabic word aldanah—meaning a large and extremely precious pearl—in Sumbuli calligraphy, a late Ottoman cursive style. Mounted on a structural frame, these panels form the building’s mashrabiya, culminating in a skylight aperture that brings natural light into the building.

To check out all the photos that were taken by Dave Burk, click here.

The last time I used a 3D printer was back in 2016 when I reviewed the Micro 3D Printer. Things have come a longggg way since then.

I was eyeing the A1 Mini for a few weeks, just out of curiosity since I had watched a YouTube video that had it and thought it was pretty cool for a 100KD printer. Then during Amazon Prime it went on sale for $250 and I actually bought it but then canceled the order before it shipped. Then randomly one night I was on the UK Bambu Lab website and saw it was on sale for £149, so 60KD~ or $200, I bought it right away. Shipping and customs was another 30KD but that was still cheaper than the 140KD price it was selling in Kuwait for.

Total was like 90KDish and I bought the Bambu Lab PLA Basic filament from the local dealer for KD8.750 so to get it up and running it was just under 100KD.

I’ve only had the A1 mini for around a week now, it’s plugged in and always on. There is a really great app for the phone and anytime I find something I want to print I just send to print from my phone. It even has a built in camera so I can watch the printing happening or shoot a time-lapse. The quality of the print outs is amazing, you can barely see any layering and things look like they’re store bought.

I also found it super easy to create something in Adobe Illustrator, import it into the Bambu app and then turn it into 3D. So for basic stuff you don’t even need to 3D model.

I’ll eventually do a proper review of the printer but just wanted to post about it now quickly since I noticed it’s back on sale but at £169 if anyone wants one. Link

The Geekcon pop-culture convention is happening this weekend, featuring booths, celebrity meet-and-greets, and my favorite part, the cosplay competition by @kuwaitcosplayclub.

Check out my favorite things taking place this weekend below. As always, double check the event details with the organizers.

Thursday, July 24
Around the World at The Avenues
GeekCon 2025
Mindful Vase Painting
K-POP Fans Social Night

Friday, July 25
GeekCon 2025
Early Birds Book Club Meeting

Saturday, July 26
GeekCon 2025
Custom Misbah Workshop
Girls Only Game Day
F1 Sprint Race + Quali Session
DAI StoryTime at Amricani
Safat Studios Summer Market
Island Escape to Qaruh
Flowers & Matcha Workshop
Move & Connect
Kuwait Toastmasters – Public Speaking Session

Picture Credit: @hadoolalk

Orion Strom, one of Europe’s fastest-growing mattress brands, has officially opened its first standalone showroom in Kuwait.

The journey that brought the Greek brand here wasn’t led by a marketing push or franchise expansion, but by a personal connection and a shared belief in doing things right. The local owner, a longtime friend of the family behind Orion Strom, had long admired their commitment to craft. When his friend visited Kuwait and toured local mattress stores, they were both struck by the same thing: high prices, low standards, and a market flooded with outdated or gimmicky mattresses that fell short compared to the offerings in the European market.

That moment was the spark. They launched with just one model in Kuwait, selling it without a showroom or proper display. It quickly sold out, reaffirming their belief in the product. That early success led to a carefully developed range of ten models, each tailored to different sleep preferences. Now, with the showroom open, customers can finally see, feel, and experience the difference firsthand.

Founded in 1998, Orion Strom isn’t just another mattress brand, it’s a company built on substance and experience. Their mattresses are made in Greece using certified European components like springs from Portugal, foam from Italy, latex from Belgium, and Kevlar from Bulgaria. If you’re someone who cares about certifications, the factory is TÜV Nord certified and holds four ISO standards. All the materials used in the mattresses are also certified with CertiPUR, OEKO-TEX, and SGS.

Orion Strom focuses on real materials and proper craftsmanship. The mattresses are dense, built to last, and nearly twice the weight of most mattresses in their price range.

This isn’t a mass-market chain, it’s a product-first company, driven by people who believe sleep is serious. If you’re looking for a proper mattress that is designed to give you better sleep and built to last, check them out orion-kw.com or visit them at Waves Mall (Google Maps).

This batch of photos was taken by the parents of John Fidler, who used to live in Kuwait back in the 50s and 60s. There aren’t a lot of photos, but a few really stood out to me, which is why I wanted to share them. The main photo, for example, shows the Ahmadi post office which I thought was a great shot with the empty street, the bicycle, and the retro bunting (flags). It has a small-town America feel to it.

The other photos I really liked are of the Fahaheel high street. It wasn’t paved back then, and there’s a cow in the middle of the street eating trash. This is the second photo I’ve seen of that street with what I’m guessing is the same cow, so it must have lived there.

The rest of the photos are just random bits and pieces. The outdoor cinema above was taken at the Hubara Club in Ahmadi. To check the rest of the photos out, click here.

Just a quick update on my post yesterday about trying to stop Eureka from spamming me with SMS’s. According to Future Mobility the company that Eureka hired to send out the SMS’s, the service doesn’t rely on phone numbers.

Eureka used an Ad Zone geo-targeted SMS service that Future Mobility provides. This service doesn’t rely on numbers, instead, it automatically sends SMS messages to customers physically present in a selected area, using the operator’s mobile towers.

Future Mobility doesn’t have control over which numbers receive these messages, it depends entirely on the telecom operator. What they recommended to me is to activate a Zain service called Do Not Disturb (DND). I don’t know what that service is and can’t find any info on the Zain website so looks like I’m going to have to call Zain to find out.

It’s really interesting though, I assumed bulk SMS services required phone numbers, the fact they don’t is both fascinating and upsetting since even if you work hard to keep your number out of databases, you’ll still get SPAM.

It’s that time of year where I need to post about a band that’s NOT coming to Kuwait. Last year it was Lana Del Rey, this year it’s Backstreet Boys.

There’s a fake Instagram account pretending to be @thearenakuwait that, at first glance, looks legit. The account posted that the Backstreet Boys are performing in Kuwait on August 7 and they’re selling tickets for the show. When someone sent me the link, it took me a minute to realize the account name was slightly misspelled, which explains why so many people are falling for it. What’s hilarious is that it’s impersonating The Arena, but the concert venue they list is JACC 🤷🏼‍♂️

The fake account even copied the impersonation warning from the official account, and their posts are a mix of stolen content and made-up announcements.

I don’t know why The Arena hasn’t shut their account down yet, it’s not that difficult to report an account impersonating you or copying content from you.

I don’t get a lot of SMS spam, I don’t tend to give my number to businesses and when I do get SPAM I usually contact the business and ask them to stop and they do.

If I get one message every few months I don’t tend to bother stopping the messages because it’s not worth the effort, but if I get daily messages from you then I’m contacting you to stop. Which is what I did with Eureka.

I got three messages back to back from Eureka so I messaged them on Instagram asking them to stop sending me messages, and gave them my number and the screenshot above. A couple of days later I get a call from someone, she was like I spoke with management and they said they can’t stop sending the messages because they don’t send the messages, a third party company does. I thought that was stupid. You’re spamming customers with unsolicited ads with no way for the customer to opt out? That’s definitely not gonna piss people off right?

Anyway I didn’t even bother to try and explain to the person how ridiculous the idea was that they themselves can’t stop their customers getting spammed, so I asked her who the third party company they were using was and they told me mustaqbal, or Future.

So Future, the same people who used to be the Nokia dealers and have their own electronics shop Future also offer a service of bulk smsing people. So now I emailed them asking to remove me from their SMS list.

But my question is, what other option do I have? Is there another way I can stop Eureka from spamming me? I’ve tried the block function on my phone but that doesn’t work.

I don’t usually post about new coffee shops but this one opened in my neighborhood so figured I’d give it a shout out. Cuppa Joe just opened today and although it’s fairly small, it still has quite a lot of seating and a cool minimal interior that gives off a bit of a Scandinavian vibe. The owner Abdullah mentioned he was going for an American coffeehouse look with subtle Asian aesthetics but I just felt it leaned more towards Scandinavian.

Whatever the intention, the space feels relaxed and easygoing, which is exactly the vibe he was aiming for. He wants it to be a neighborhood hangout where friends can meet up or people can get work done while having a coffee.

If you want to check it out, it’s located in Ras Al-Ard, Salmiya (google maps), behind Asnan Tower and the other chill coffee spot Sluggish. They’re currently open from 5PM to 11PM since the owner has a day job, but those hours might change later so check their Instagram before heading there. @cuppajoe.kw

I picked mine up from Game Store for KD25 if anyone wants to get one. I’m now trying to decide if I should play it now or wait to play it on my 16 hour flight next month. Link

I got a message from my dogs’ vet last week (IVH) saying that, for the first time ever in Kuwait, they’ve introduced pet insurance. It’s a collaboration between them and the insurance company GIG Takaful, and it covers both cats and dogs. The coverage includes:

• Consultations and examinations
• Accidents and illnesses
• Surgeries, medications, and hospital admissions
• Blood tests and CT scans
• Euthanasia and cremation (where applicable)
• Third-party liability (for dogs)

I checked the prices and there are two plans available for both cats and dogs. Cat plans start at KD79 per year, while dog plans start from KD99. If you want to find out more, click here.

Models: August and Hugo

The Kuwaiti fashion label Emanmoon just opened their first international pop-up, and they chose one of the most stylish summer destinations for it, Saint-Tropez.

Emanmoon is known for their elegant, free-size pieces made from premium fabrics which are perfect for hot summers and traveling. Their collections are designed and made in Kuwait and focus on timeless silhouettes, soft color palettes, and effortless style.

They chose Saint-Tropez for their first international pop-up because the city attracts a global, fashion-forward crowd that appreciates unique designs. It was the perfect place to introduce the brand this summer.

This opening marks a major milestone for Emanmoon, becoming the first Kuwaiti fashion brand to launch in Saint Tropez. The pop-up, located at 1 Rue Sibille, showcases two of their standout collections, Maris and Oasis.

If you’re in Saint-Tropez this summer, pass by and check them out. You can also follow them on Instagram @emanmoonkw or check out their website emanmoon.com