Author: Mark

According to the latest Speedtest Global Index, Kuwait’s 5G speeds ranks 7th fastest in the world but behind neighbouring countries UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Norway had the fastest. According to the index, Kuwait’s 5G speeds average is 338.97 Mbps which sounds about right compared to how fast my 5G is.

When I first got 5G I was averaging 700 Mbps but over the years it’s slowed down to an average of around 200 Mbps for me. To check out the full article, click here.

Thanks K 🍪

More and more companies are introducing electric cars and a few months ago Mercedes launched one themselves called the EQS. Unlike other manufacturers, Mercedes is trying to capture the premium electric car market and not the budget end which is an approach I like.

The first thing that caught my attention when Mercedes launched the car was the very futuristic interior. It’s actually why I was excited to check out the car when Mercedes invited me for a sneak peek earlier this week. The EQS is currently in Kuwait as part of its worldwide roadshow and I got to spend a bit of time with it but I didn’t get to drive it.

In-person I didn’t like the front end of the car much but the rear with the long one-piece tail light definitely looked futuristic. But really it’s inside the car that things start getting very cool. The whole front dash looks like one giant screen that starts from the driver’s side and ends on the passenger’s side and the software it’s running is fairly smart and intuitive.

The EQS doesn’t officially ship until later this year and although the official price gets announced next week, the rumor is that it will cost around KD40,000. Since this is an edition one car it’s not going to be available for public viewing while in Kuwait. The car is here for a short while just for private viewing and then will fly back out. For more info on the car though click here.

I don’t post about coffee shops anymore because they’re just too many of them and too much of the same thing but GOODCUP has one cool thing going for it, the location. GOODCUP opened up a couple of weeks back and as soon as I saw photos of the space on social media I really wanted to pass by and check it out.

The coffee shop is located in an old building inside Souk Mubarakia and it’s pretty big with two floors. The coffee shop occupies one part of the ground floor and the rest is divided into smaller spaces that are available to rent to other businesses. As you can imagine and see from the photos, the coffee shop is very instagrammable so most of the people there were there to grab photos and leave since the seating is pretty limited.

Finding the location is easy, just find Freej Swaileh first in Mubarakia (Google Maps). Once you’re standing in front of Freej enter the souk on the right of it (Souk Al Hareem), and then around 20 meters in you’ll find GOODCUP on your right-hand side. They’re also on instagram @goodcupkw

One of the oldest Korean restaurants in Kuwait, Koryokwan is now called Korea Gwan. Don’t know why they changed it, maybe because nobody could remember the name Koryokwan? I know I couldn’t. They also gave the interior a bit of a facelift although I think the new lights are too bright. I didn’t see anything new in the menu though but it’s been given a facelift as well.

On a side note, I just spotted their very old original logo on their instagram account (pictured below) and it looks very familiar. There used to be a Korean restaurant on mezzanine 2 of Salhiya in the 80s and I remember they had a very similar logo outside the restaurant but don’t think they’re the same restaurant.

From what I know, Koryokwan was opened by Mr Kim in 1989, just before the Gulf War. Mr Kim was the General Secretary of the Boxing Federation in Korea and was then brought to Kuwait by Sheikh Fahad Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to coach the Kuwait boxing team back in 1982.

Mr Kim (in yellow) helped Kuwait win two bronze medals at the Asian games and later helped train the Kuwaiti police and army. After leaving boxing in 1988 he teamed up with Carlton Hotel to open up Koryokwan. In 1991 after the Gulf War he got into a disagreement with Carlton and they split ways. He ended up opening a super trippy hair accessories store while someone else teamed up with Carlton to run Koryokwan. A completely random story which you can read in more detail here.

Korea Gwan is open daily from 10AM to 9:30PM. They’re also on Instagram @koreagwan_kuwait

There is a new fitness store in Avenues called Befit that recently opened up and they carry a couple of cool brands including Rogue and Concept2. Concept2 rowers have been difficult to come by since the start of the pandemic and when found are usually overpriced so I was pretty surprised to see they were selling them for normal Amazon prices.

On their website, Befit have the Concept2 rower listed for KD443 (with free shipping) but in-store they have it listed for even less at KD427. The store is pretty small so they don’t have a lot of equipment on display but if you’re trying to get your hands on a Concept2 it’s worth passing by. They’re located in the corridor behind the new Adidas store that’s opening in Grand Avenues.

Yesterday residents who have been stuck outside Kuwait for over 7 months were finally allowed to come back home. Based on the video above it looks like the procedures on arrival is really smooth which is encouraging.

But, a lot of people are facing difficulties either trying to get their vaccination approved by MOH or having difficulty trying to register in the immune app.

If you’re stuck outside of Kuwait and trying to come back in but are facing issues, let us know about them in the comments. Maybe we can help!

Today marks the 31st anniversary of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion, and every year on the anniversary, I like to share some links related to the war. Here they are:

Free Kuwait
This is a website that focuses on the campaign that was led by Kuwaitis in exile and is loaded with photos and information.

Kuwait Invasion – The Evidence
This is a website that contains over 1,200 pictures taken right after the 1990 invasion as photographic evidence to all the destruction caused by Iraq.

Short movie: Hearts of Palm
Hearts of Palm is a short movie set on August 2nd 1990 and deals with Kuwaiti students living in Miami Florida during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.

The Class of 1990
This is a short documentary about reuniting classmates years after the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

Homemade video from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
Video clips taken by a Kuwaiti family during the Iraqi invasion

Desert Storm Photos
Photos taken by soldiers during Desert Storm.

Short Animation: Sandarah
A captivating story based on true events that took place during the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

First Account of Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait
Interviews with various Kuwaitis that were in Kuwait during the 1990 invasion.

Iraqi Invasion Pictures
Photos of the Gulf War aftermath.

Politics of War
A tumblr account with some not so commonly seen photos from the Gulf War. (Warning some are graphic)

BBC Documentary: The Last Flight to Kuwait
A series of documentaries on Iraq begins with a look at the fate of British Airways flight BA149 to the Far East in 1990. As the plane landed in Kuwait, Saddam Hussein invaded, capturing its crew and passengers.

Top photo by Steve McCurry, the rest by Bruno Barbey

The Aafaq bookstore opened up in Avenues around 2 years ago but I never really passed by it because I never came across it. This weekend though I took a wrong turn while looking for another store and ended up right outside Aafaq.

It’s a fairly large store, probably their biggest one taking up two floors. They had English and Arabic books as well as a large selection of children’s books and games.

Finding the store isn’t easy and if you aren’t looking for it I doubt you’ll ever come across it. The easiest way to find Aafaq is heading to the H&M store in Grand Avenues. Go inside H&M and then head upstairs to the mens section and walk out the back of the store. You’ll find Aafaq in that courtyard in the back.

Layla is a new Lebanese gourmet grocery store that opened up in Salmiya opposite Marks & Spencer. They carry a lot of imported Lebanese products ranging from Bonjous and Master Chips (Lebanese equivalent to Sunkist and Kitco), to Lebanese dairy products, fruits, bread, pickles and more.

It’s actually very similar to the other Lebanese store Lama, except instead of the Lama branded products Layla carries their own brand. If you want to check the place out they’re on Instagram @laylalbkw and here is their location on Google Maps.

Ora, one of my favorite Japanese restaurants opened up in Avenues a couple of weeks ago. The new location is called Ora Blu and it’s a much smaller space than the main Ora with a similar but also smaller menu.

They’re located in Phase 4 near Arabica and it’s walk-ins only so no reservations needed. If you want to check out their menu click here.

A couple of years ago I got my Wizr t-shirt printed in Dubai. I had it done on a direct-to-garment (DTG) printer which is basically an inkjet printer that prints directly onto fabric. Compared to the usual heat transfer prints, DTG prints look a lot better, as if the t-shirt was store-bought.

Back then I had asked if there were similar services in Kuwait and I got a few recommendations. Sadly most of them seem to have shut down last year due to the pandemic. But, I did eventually find one place that was still active called Inkservice. They’re a print shop with various locations around Kuwait but their DTG service is located at their Shuhada Co-op branch. I had an old Rambo advert printed on one of my white t-shirts and it came out perfect so I’m going back to print some more things.

The cost is 4.5KD if you provide a t-shirt and 6.5KD if they provide one. If you’re looking for a place to print on t-shirts check these guys out. It takes a few minutes to print so you can wait there till it’s done. They’re on instagram @inkservice and here is their location on Google Maps.

Is it me or does anyone else find it weird that the first activity listed on the Kuwait Tourism website are the smart toilets? It’s even more apparent on mobile phones since the first activity that comes up when scrolling down are the toilets.

This is some completely random info to wake up to but I just found out that Freddie Highmore, the star of the popular TV series Bates Motel and The Good Doctor at one point was living in Kuwait and interning at Gulf Bank. I thought the info was made up but it’s mentioned on IMDB in the trivia section and there is a photo of him at Slider Station.

If you don’t know Freddie as an adult then you might recognize him as Charlie from Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well as playing Peter in Finding Neverland.

Mind blown!

Thanks forzaq8

There is a Turkish restaurant in Avenues called Seyami Usta that now accepts cryptocurrency as a means of payment. They’re the first local business I’m aware of that accepts cryptocurrency and it’s odd that it’s a restaurant and a Turkish one at that. Payment is done through Binance Pay and is only available at their Avenues location.

If you’ve been there and paid with crypto, let us know how your experience went.

Thanks abalawadhi

@thedodo, the super popular animal stories and animal rights instagram account just posted a video of puppies in Kuwait that were rescued by @raf.kw. It’s a feel good video and in just 4 hours already gotten 800,000 views. Watch the video above and make sure you visit and support @raf.kw

Thanks Basmah