Author: Mark

Barakat is an old school store located in Salmiya that has been open since the early 80s. They sell supplies for knitting, crochet, embroidery, needlework, sewing, weaving, as well as hobby and crafting materials, and magazines relating to all these.

I thought they had closed down their old Salmiya location since they had opened a small shop in Al Bustan Mall, but turns out the original store is still alive and kicking.

I passed by with a friend the other night and it reminded me of when I was a kid and I would accompany my mum. When I was a kid I hated trips to Barakat since I used to get super bored, but now as an adult, I appreciate the place a lot more.

I was tempted to get something, so ended up leaving with a “My First Embroidery” kit of a cute cat. Since I’m always curious to try new things, I figured I could try embroidery for fun and this kit contained everything I needed to learn embroidery.

If you’ve never been to Barakat, you should pass by to check the place out especially if you’re looking for a new hobby to get into. They’re located on the first floor of a building near Beit Dickson Restaurant in Salmiya. Here is the building on [Google Maps]. They’re also on instagram @barakat_kuwait. If you do pass by, make sure you pick up some kunafa from Al Tibawi down the street before you leave the area.

I keep seeing more and more of these stickers on cars, if you hadn’t noticed them before you will now. Do you still have this sticker on your car?

Kuwait Airways launched an outdoor campaign last week to highlight the fact their new terminal is opening this month. One thing I don’t get is the date format they’re using on all their advertising material which is 08-08-08/018. The date doesn’t make any sense.

The new terminal is opening on August 8th with a limited number of flight routes which is already going to be confusing to travelers, and now you have this abstract date format they’re using.

Over the weekend I asked my followers on twitter if they could translate the Kuwait Airways date format and nobody could.

08-08-08
This date is August 8th, 2008.

08-08-08/018
This could be read as August 8th, 2008/2018 although it doesn’t make sense why they’re using 018 and not 18, and what does 2008 have to do with this?

08-08-18
This is the actual date they should be using.

A follower suggested the first 08 might mean represent that fact they’re opening at 8AM but it wouldn’t make sense to insert a time into a date format. IF they could do that it would have at least made more sense to have it 08/08-08-18 for example.

Even with the Kuwait Airways tweet above which says the terminal is opening on 08-08-18 at 8AM, and the first flight will be KU0808, it still doesn’t explain what 08-08-08/018 is. What a confusing mess.

Every year on the anniversary of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion, I like to share some links related to the war. The last two links are new this year, check them all out below:

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 in 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 class mates 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 Wor
A tumblr account with some not so commonly seen photos from the Gulf War. (Warning some are graphic)

Magnum Photos
A gallery of images taken during the Gulf War by some great photographers. (Warning some are graphic)

Photos in this post are by Bruno Barbey

Screenshot from The Spy Who Dumped Me

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas, Sky Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa (5.4)
Our House (5.3)
Patrick (5.8)
PLOEY – You Never Fly Alone (5.5)
Shock and Awe (5.0) ♦
The Ashram (5.1)
The Spy Who Dumped Me (6.3) ♦

Other Movies Showing Now:
Ant-Man and the Wasp (8.0)
Billionaire Boys Club (5.6) ♦
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (6.5)
Incredibles 2 (9.2)
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (7.2)
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (8.9) ★
Ocean’s Eight (6.3) ★
Skyscraper (6.0)
Still/Born (5.4)
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (6.8)
The Little Witch (6.3)
The Lullaby (5.8)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (5.9)
Hurricane 3D (7.0)
Tiny Giants 3D (8.0)
Watermelon Magic 3D (7.4)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

Is there a place other than Boccini at The Avenues that serves deep dish pizzas which I’m not aware of? Please don’t say Pizza Hut.

Three years ago I posted about how I plastidipped parts of my FJ Cruiser. Plastidip is non-permanent paint which you can just peel off to revert back to the original color. I had plastidipped various parts of my car and the paint had survived pretty well except on my wheels where it started to peel off (pictured below) and look gross. I needed to get my wheels permanently painted but that meant I had to find a paint shop and then keep the car with them for a few days which I didn’t have time for.

Then, last week, I found out a friend of mine started a new business called Dr Dent. He sent me the profile over instagram and I half-jokingly told him what I was interested in was a service where they could come take my FJ wheels, get them painted and then drop them back off to me. My friend told me that was a service they actually offered and it would be done at my place without having to take the wheels away. After a bit of back and forth of me trying to confirm I had understood him correctly, I called them up and booked an appointment.

Dr Dent offer a number of services that include dent, windshield and wheel repair, as well as wheel painting. They came over in their large van which has a built-in paint shop and started work right away. They first took off the wheels from my car, prepped them by removing the old plastidip, and then cleaned them up before taking the wheels one at a time into their paint booth to get painted. I had requested ahead of time to get the wheels painted in the Toyota TRD bronze color, so they got the paint code and mixed the paint for me before coming over.

It was incredibly convenient, I just gave the guys my car keys, got into my Lotus and headed to Avenues to do some shopping while they worked on my car.

The cost of this service varies from car to car depending on the size of the wheel and if there is any damage (like deep scratches from swiping a curb) that need to be fixed but the maximum it would cost to repair or/and paint a wheel is KD50. So if you’re looking for a convenient way to get your wheels painted or repaired, you can check Dr Dent out on instagram @drdentkw

This is a random little tidbit sent in by a reader. Back in 1978, the British-Irish comedian Spike Milligan appeared on an episode of the Muppets Show sporting a t-shirt with Kuwait written on it in Arabic. You can watch a clip of that episode above (Spike pops in at around the 1-minute mark) while the story about the controversy behind is t-shirt is below:

For years, it has been said that Milligan’s shirt translated to “hashish,” and this was a sly opportunity by Milligan to sneak a drug reference into the show (hashish is a preparation of cannabis). As the story goes, no one noticed what he was doing until the episode had already aired. Is it true? It is not true.

What Milligan’s shirt translates to is “Kuwait.”
Why Kuwait? Well, Milligan was, at the time, doing the TV series Q, which was a sketch comedy show that had a different number attached to it for each season it was on the air, beginning with Q5 in 1969. Because of the similar Monty Python’s Flying Circus program, which ran from 1969-1974 (it began a few months after Milligan’s series), it would not be until 1975 that Milligan was allowed a second season/series of Q, titled Q6. Q7 followed in 1977, and in 1978, as the time of the Muppet Show taping, Milligan was doing Q8.

Q8 was, appropriately enough, nicknamed “Kuwait” because of the fact that, well, you know, Q8 sounds like Kuwait! So no, no sneaky drug references for Spike Milligan! [Source]

So random.

Thanks Dalal!

The all-new Jeep Wranglers are finally in Kuwait. Although the outside looks pretty similar to the previous model, it’s actually been completely reworked and the interior given a major overhaul.

The local Jeep dealer just got the new Wranglers over the weekend and they should end up being in the showroom anytime today or tomorrow. They’ve only brought the 4-door Wranglers for now but in three different trims that include the Sport, Sahara and the Rubicon edition (pictured here). Sadly, the Sahara and Rubicon models they’ve brought come with a beige leather interior (puke) and only the sport model comes with a black interior. I’m pretty sure you could probably order a Rubicon with a black interior, but right now if you want one, you don’t have another choice.

The prices of the new Wranglers start at KD12,500 for the Sport edition and go all the way up to KD16,000 for the Rubicon. I’ve had my Toyota FJ for 8 years now and although I love it, the new Rubicon is really really tempting.

Captain Abdullah Bu Hassan from the Interior Ministry pointed out that engaging in this dance challenge could lead to payment of KD100 fine and imprisonment for three months once the case is referred to the court.

In addition, Al-Shahid daily has reported that Director General of Public Relations and Security Media General Department in the Ministry of Interior Brigadier Tawheed Al-Kandari has affirmed that the ‘Kiki’ dance challenge video clip, which went viral on social media, is a violation of the Traffic Law. Under such circumstances, the vehicle will be impounded and a citation will be issued to the motorist, he added. [Source]

Expats, on the other hand, will get deported (no not really, I don’t think so at least).

The story with the Kuwaiti influencer @sondos_aq doesn’t look like its quieting down anytime soon, but, this will probably be the last time I post about her since I’m pretty much over the whole thing.

In one of her most recent videos (watch it above), instead of apologizing and putting all this behind her, Sondos is now claiming that she is being attacked by the foreign media because she is a Kuwaiti Muslim who wears hijab. She then ends the video by promising to reveal the brands that have cut ties with her so that her followers can boycott them.

Brands don’t seem to be affected by her threat, MAC Cosmetics, Anastasia Beverly Hills and Phyto were three more brands to announce that they will no longer be working with her.

I have no idea who is handling her public relations, but whomever it is they’re doing a terrible job…

Screenshot from Mission: Impossible – Fallout

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas, Sky Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (8.9) ★
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (6.8)

Other Movies Showing Now:
A Prayer Before Dawn (7.1) ♦
Ant-Man and the Wasp (8.0)
Billionaire Boys Club (5.6) ♦
Escape Plan 2: Hades (3.8)
Gotti (4.7)
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (6.5)
Incredibles 2 (9.2)
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (7.2)
Ocean’s Eight (6.3) ★
Skyscraper (6.0)
Still/Born (5.4)
The Domestics (5.7)
The First Purge (5.5) ♦
The Little Witch (6.3)
The Lullaby (5.8)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (5.9)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Hurricane 3D (7.0)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (6.3)
Tiny Giants 3D (8.0)
Watermelon Magic 3D (7.4)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

A friend shared the picture above taken from the instagram account @street965. The photo was taken at the port or airport (probably airport) and shows a dark grey McLaren Senna (also pictured below) in the background.

I hope it’s going to go on display at the dealership but my guess would be it’s already been sold and is going straight to the customer.

Thanks Stan!

Update: Here is another better photo (thanks K!)

Just when you think this whole situation with Sondos couldn’t get any worse, well guess what.. it does!

With all the backlash she has been getting in regards to her racist comments on domestic workers, you’d think she would issue an apology. But, instead of apologizing she published another video this time talking about how employers of domestic workers deserve rights.

The video starts of with her talking about how her story has hit the news and how she hopes the local authorities will take action on this and provide employers of domestic workers with rights. After rambling for a minute or so on how she wants rights, she ends the video by stating the subject is now closed and that there are more important matters in life, like the fact that she’s thinking of getting botox. I swear I’m not making this up!! Check out her video above.

Yesterday the makeup brand Max Factor posted the story above on their Instagram account @maxfactorarabia distancing themselves from the influencer Sondos. Over the weekend Sondos had posted racial comments on her social media account which got picked up by news outlets around the world and caused a great deal of controversy locally.

From what I’m aware Max Factor are the first brand to distance themselves from her. Previously a reader had told me that Boutiqaat had dropped Sondos as well, but, that doesn’t seem to be the case since she’s still listed on their website and they’ve refused to comment on the situation when I spoke to them.

Anyway, I thought it was impressive that Max Factor disassociated themselves from Sondos since I didn’t hear of any brand dropping 3bodka after his incident.

Update: The cosmetics brand Etude House posted a story today also distancing themselves from Sondos although they don’t mention her by name. You can check their story [Here]